Versus 3: Eclipse
by SludgeMetal666
Summary: The drama continues for Goten and Bra when Bra fails her first test. What’s going to happen now that Bra has to have a new tutor? Complete
1. All That You Touch

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Touch--

Bra looked around her bedroom and sighed. She'd just been sent here by her mother. She'd been reprimanded by a person she never thought could even get mad at her. Now look what had happened. She'd been given her sentence--no dates, no visitation and no telephone. All because of an 'F' on ONE test. The phone thing wasn't a big loss. She never really used it anyway. And if she did want to use it, she had her own private line. Her mother would never know if she used it or not. But spending a whole weekend at home was something altogether different. She didn't want to stick around with her parents' constant bickering. She had better things to do with her time.

And what of this new tutor she would be forced to deal with? She didn't even want to listen to the hot tutor she had. Heaven forbid her new tutor be a dead-headed old geezer. SHE'D start sleeping in tutoring then.

And the worst sentence of all was not being able to see Goten. Sure, she'd see him in class, but that wasn't enough. She wanted to see him during every free minute of her day. Their date would obviously have to be postponed. Unless....

Bra looked out of her window. This was gonna be easy. All she had to do was sneak out. It's not like her mother or father ever paid much attention to her anyway. Especially when she locked herself in her room. Ha, ha, haaaaa! Her mother hadn't thought about that, surely. The woman probably didn't even think Bra would disobey direct orders. She obviously didn't know her daughter very well. All she had to do was wait for the opportune moment, and she could just leave whenever she pleased. It was all so perfect.

--later--

There was a knock on her bedroom door. "Honey, we need to talk." It was her mother.

Bra went over and opened the door. She folded her arms across her chest and gave her mother a tired look.

Bulma was holding that horrid test in her hand. "I've done a lot of research and I've found a new tutor for you. Now, he might not be one of your best friends, but according to his references, he's a very good candidate. He's actually a geologist, but history is definitely a love of his. So just because he has a good career doesn't make him boring."

Bra frowned. Great. Not only was this guy gonna try to teach her about a subject that she hated, he was going to bore her to death with talks of his profession too. And those old fuddy-duddies sure did like to chat. She remembered talking to the old turtle hermit who trained Goku and he NEVER used to shut up.

"You don't believe me. Well, you'll see tomorrow. If the interview goes well, he's moving in with us so that you can get the best education possible. You'll have a live-in tutor," Bulma said with a smile. "That way he'll be able to teach you things while you're not even thinking about it. It's like...reverse psychology for your brain." She sounded really excited about it.

Well, Bra wasn't. This was going to be the worst year of her entire high school career. Now how was she supposed to sneak out and see Goten without that old crank getting in her way? He'd probably bug her constantly. Bra rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you just move Goten in instead?"

Bulma laughed. "No way, dear. Goten's too much of a distraction. Goten's a really sweet guy, but he's also your friend. I'm afraid he may be too lenient when it comes to your studies."

Bra sighed. "Do you really think this live-in tutor thing is such a good idea?"

"Yes. I've got it all mapped out. While you're in school, he'll go to his day job. Then by the time you get out of school, he'll be finished at his job and he can come here and tutor you for the rest of the day," Bulma clucked on.

Yep, she was definitely excited. Bra sighed again. Her mother's heart seemed set on this new tutor. Oh, well. Bra would just have to make up for her entire weekend all in one day.

--End All That You Touch--

--Hello again. Welcome back to Versus. Sorry about the long wait. I had to get some stuff off my chest and out of my brain before I could go on with this. As you can tell, this is the third part in the Versus series. I know this chapter was EXTREMELY short, but all I really wanted to do was establish some things.

--Hey, thanks for reading the first chapter of Versus 3: Eclipse. Please review.

--I'm gonna tell you now. The name of this part and the chapters are probably not gonna make a whole lot of sense. But it's not my fault. Once I listen to something, it sometimes has a huge impact on my writing.


	2. All That You See

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You See--

Bra let up her bedroom window. This was undoubtedly going to be a memorable moment in her life. She was sneaking out of the house to see a man. There was something very thrilling about the whole situation. Her mother would definitely be quite angry if she found out. And of course, her mother would tell her father, who wasn't even at home at the time, that she was grounded and he could possibly come looking for her. But the rush Bra felt right now was all worth it. She'd never felt so alive.

She made sure that she had locked her bedroom door, then climbed out of the window. Hovering outside the window, she stuck a piece of tape on each latch and lowered it so that she wouldn't lock herself out of her own room. She floated there and looked at her work of art. She was a little half Saiyan genius.

She took off into the sunset. It was only 7:00. If her mother decided to come back into her room and have another little chat, she was done for. Oh, well. It was a price she'd gladly pay if it was the only way to see the man she loved.

Of course, some day she'll wish that she'd spent this time training. Her father had really shown her how weak she was when they fought. And she knew that eventually she'd challenge him again. Not as a display of love for someone her father hated, but to show her father that she was as strong a fighter as she claimed to be. Of course, the time for such a challenge was not now. No. The time for that challenge lay much farther ahead. This little bit of freedom she had left now would have to be spent having fun. There was no telling when her next night of freedom would be.

--after a while--

Bra knocked on Trunks and Goten's apartment door.

Goten opened the door. "Bra?"

Bra smiled up at Goten. "Hey."

Goten looked at her strangely.

"What?" Bra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, your mom called about an hour ago and told me that I didn't have to worry about tutoring you anymore," Goten explained.

Already? Boy, her mother really knew how to run her mouth. She'd probably blabbed to everyone they knew. Bra frowned.

"She also told me that you were grounded because of your test grade," Goten told her.

Bra put her hands on her hips. "So?"

Goten raised his eyebrows. "Well, you're not supposed to be here."

"Oh, come on, Goten. Don't tell me YOU'VE never sneaked out before," Bra said.

Goten grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, all the time." He moved out of the way so that she could enter the apartment.

Bra walked in and looked around. She could easily see that he had been playing a video game before she came. As a matter of fact it was still on. "Heeeeeeey, Halo 2. I love that game."

Goten looked at the TV. "Yeah. You wanna play?"

Bra was already sitting on the couch holding the second player controller. "You know I do. But only if I get to do the driving when we get a vehicle."

"Fine by me. I hate driving," Goten informed her. He sat beside her and reset the game.

"So, what's Trunks up to? In his room working on another one of his side projects?" Bra asked.

Goten shook his head. "Long day at the office."

Bra froze and stared at the intro to Halo 2 blankly. So, she and Goten were in the apartment alone? Just him and her? Wow.... They could do anything they wanted. ANYTHING.

"I'm gonna have to let you make a profile," Goten said, setting everything up. "My name's Dirty Harry."

She looked over at Goten. How simple and sweet he was. Surely any normal guy would take full advantage of this situation. But not Goten. It was strange. She wondered if it was out of respect or just plain stupidity.... She had a good idea which one it was. Bra smiled confidently. "Then I'll be Megadeth."

--some time later--

Goten dropped his controller on the floor. "That thing is freakin' huge! How are we supposed to stop it? We've tried everything!" He watched as his character plummeted to his death.

"Come on, Goten. You just regenerated in front of me," Bra told him. "If you wouldn't have jumped off the edge, maybe you wouldn't have died."

Goten picked his controller back up and sighed loudly. "This Scarab thing is impossible."

"Just grab one of those rocket launchers and follow me," Bra said.

As they regrouped on the game, Trunks came in. He dragged his feet as he walked over to a chair and flopped down without even looking at them. He lay back in the chair and put his hands on his face. "I swear I'm never working late again."

Neither Goten nor Bra were paying much attention to him. They were devising a scheme on how they would infiltrate the Scarab and blow some Covenants' heads off.

Trunks looked up. "Oh, hey, Bra. I didn't even know you were here." He stood up. "I guess I'll give you two some privacy."

Bra just looked at him.

"Privacy? We're just playing Halo 2. I finally went out and bought it today. We were just trying it out," Goten informed his roommate.

"Oh, cool. How is it?" Trunks asked.

"Better than you can even imagine," Goten responded.

Trunks nodded. "I wanna try it out sometime. But I'm really tired after all those BORED meetings. I'm gonna hit the hay." He sludged his way to his room.

After Trunks left, Goten spoke up. "You know, we've been playing this for a while. It's getting kinda late. Don't you think your mom's gonna find out that you're gone?"

Bra frowned. She could tell that Goten didn't want her to get into any more trouble. "I just wanted to spend some time with you before I'm put on total lockdown. After tonight, the only time I'll get to see you is at school."

Goten looked at the floor. "Really?"

"Yeah," Bra answered. "I've gotta put in some over-time on studying. Mom thinks that you're too easy on me."

"Easy on you?" Goten asked. He laughed and shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe she's right."

"Well, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna let my last chance to be with you end like this? Or are we gonna go out and have some fun?" Bra asked. She stood up and turned the Xbox off. She thought about what she'd just said. It was very unlike her to make these kinds of demands. She was beginning to sound like her mother.

Goten looked confused at first. Then he smiled that smile of his. "Alright, Bra. You name it."

Bra thought for a moment. She wasn't really the type to go out and do stuff. She was more of a stay-at-home type. As a matter of fact, any time she went somewhere, it was because Pan had dragged her along. She'd really rather have a nice quiet evening at home watching a movie or something like that.

"Well, I've always wanted to play pool," Bra suggested.

"Pool it is," Goten agreed. He grabbed his keys and then put his arm around Bra. "If you've never played pool, you're in for some real fun. I'm a pool master," he told her with wide eyes.

"Really? I didn't know you played pool." She looked up at him as they walked out of the apartment.

Goten pulled a capsule out of his pocket, pressed the button and threw it in front of them. "Well..., I play, but I'm not really a master...."

Bra raised an eyebrow.

Goten let her go and held his hands up in defense. "Okay, so I've played a few times and I'm not very good at it."

Bra sighed and looked up at the night sky. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were trying to impress me." She looked at him and smiled.

Goten scratched the back of his head and grinned. "Well, yeah. I guess it didn't work, huh? You know me a little too well."

"Just because we've been apart for a few years doesn't mean I've forgotten everything I used to know about you. That includes your lack of lying skills," Bra said.

Goten opened the car door for her.

"Thanks." She smiled again. "Besides, you're impressive enough without additives." She got into the car.

--End All That You See--

--Alright. That's the end of the second episode of Eclipse. Thanks for reading and please review.

--Ranting and raving again: Bra's a little weird in this episode. Has she lost her mind? Or is she just going with the adrenaline flow? What do you think?

--Still raving: Also, what about Goten. He rarely lays a hand on Bra. What's the deal with that?

--Thanks for your reviews! Like I always say, they are appreciated greatly. I'm always looking for ways to improve. If we can't improve upon what we've done, then there's no approving upon what's to come.


	3. All That You Taste

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Taste--

They both sat in the car silently as Goten parked in the poorly lit parking lot in front of the pool hall. It was a place Bra had never been to. But that was no big surprise. She hadn't been to a lot of places.

"Boy, this place is packed," Bra pointed out. "I was hoping for a little more privacy than this."

Goten looked at all the cars. "Yeah. Jam packed. I hate crowds."

Bra nodded. Both she and Goten definitely shared that one thing in common. They both hated to be around a lot of people. Sometimes it made her wonder why Goten became a teacher. Oh, well. "Maybe we should have just stayed at your place."

"You read my mind. You wanna finish taking on the Covenant?" Goten asked, referring to the video game they were playing earlier.

Bra smiled. "As much as I'd like to, we'd better not. I like having the volume turned up really loud and it would probably wake Trunks."

Goten grinned. "That's true."

"Why don't we rent a movie?" Bra asked. "That's something we can do at home."

"Fine by me," Goten agreed. "Let's go."

They left the pool hall and Bra's mind began to wander. She'd known Goten all her life. And 16 years was a long time to know a person. She began to doubt that she should even have romantic feelings for this man. Pan had said that she and Goten were like siblings. Was it wrong for her to feel this way? SHOULD she see Goten as her older brother and nothing more? They sure went about things like they were brother and sister. No normal couple trained with each other. No couple played video games together. No real couple would act the way they did together. Right? There were definitely sparks when they touched or when they kissed. At least on her end, there were. But that didn't happen very often. Weren't couples supposed to be physical every now and then? What exactly was supposed to go on in a relationship as strange as theirs?

Bra snapped back into reality when her door was opened. She looked up at Goten, who was smiling down at her.

"Are you coming? Or do I have to pick out a movie by myself?" Goten asked playfully. He held his hand out to her.

Bra smiled and took his hand. She soon realized that she had never smiled this much in her life. Even when she was younger and used to hang around Goten all the time, she didn't smile this much. She felt truly happy. Maybe this WAS the way she was supposed to feel.

Goten helped Bra to her feet and continued to hold her hand as they entered the video store. "So, what are you in the mood to see?"

"I don't know," Bra answered. She looked at the section labeled 'Romance'. "Let's check over there."

Goten looked at her strangely. "Alright."

They went over to the section Bra had pointed out. The selection of movies was ridiculous. Bra had no idea where to start. Maybe she should just pick up one and check it out. She picked up a movie. Jason's Lyric. It must be about love and music. "How about this?"

"If that's what you want," Goten told her.

Good. The sooner they got out of this place, the better. There was no telling if someone they knew might show up.

--back at the apartment--

Goten quietly opened the front door. "I would pop some popcorn, but that's kinda loud." He grabbed a bag of potato chips. "But we DO have these," he sang happily.

Bra rolled her eyes and smirked. It was clear to her that she was dating a fruit basket.

Goten walked into his room, followed by Bra, who stopped in the doorway. Goten looked back at her. "I thought you'd gotten over that doorway thing." He took her by the hand and lead her over to his bed.

Oh, boy. She was going to be sitting on his bed. And most likely, he would be sitting there too. Her heart started beating really fast. Maybe she should have picked out a comedy instead. She sat on the edge of the bed.

He put the DVD into the player, then sat on the bed with his back against the wall. "Are you gonna sit way up there? It can't be very comfortable."

Bra took a deep breath and repositioned herself, leaning her back against the wall as well. These were dangerous conditions for her. It was pretty dark, they were sitting on a bed, AND the bedroom door was closed. Not only that, they were watching a romance movie along with it. She wasn't sure if Goten felt the pressure of the situation, but she sure did.

As the movie progressed, she concluded that she should have looked at the rating before renting it. There was nothing comfortable about watching a movie like this with someone you were attracted to. They had both been speechless throughout the movie. Bra tried her best to stare at the TV. Her face was growing warm, as was the rest of her body. Just thinking about replacing the people in the movie with her and Goten made her head spin. She wondered what was going through Goten's mind as he watched the steamy scenes before them.

Suddenly, there was a hand on her cheek and a pair of lips pressing against hers. It caught her by surprise, so much so that she gasped. She couldn't say that it had come out of nowhere because she was thinking about doing the same thing. Her mouth was quickly invaded as Goten kissed her hungrily. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm. She wasn't sure if the movie continued to play. At this point she wasn't paying much attention to it anyway.

Bra wasn't sure how she'd ended up on her back, but there she lay with Goten straddling her. He gently kissed her ears, neck and collar bone as she grasped his hair. There was a strange feeling inside of her. It was as if something were trapped and trying to break free. Hands danced about her sides and spidered their way all over her body. It was enough to make her wrap her legs around his hips. She wasn't really sure what she was doing, but what she felt next made her gasp and release him.

"Goten, wait," Bra said breathlessly. "This is going way too fast."

"I know. I know. I'm sorry," Goten sighed. He relinquished his hold on her and moved to the other side of the bed. He just looked at her.

Bra straightened her clothes and hugged her knees to her chest. She couldn't bring herself to look at him anymore. All this time, she'd been waiting for this moment and now she was backing out...again. She thought that she was ready for a more physical relationship, but something about all of this scared her. Maybe she really WAS just a kid.

"I should be the one to apologize," Bra told him. "You probably think I'm just a big tease." She chuckled sadly. She finally looked back at him.

To her surprise, he was smiling at her. "You're not ready for that next step. And that's okay." He turned off the DVD. "I have a confession to make, though."

Bra lay her head on her knees and stared at him. "What's that?"

"It's really, really, REALLY hard to refrain from...being close to you," Goten responded in the goofiest of fashions.

Bra's heart felt like it might leap straight out of her chest. He was making it hard for HER to keep her hands off of him. Her hormones were already spinning out of control. Had she not used her brain, they could very well have gone all the way. And she most likely wouldn't have regretted it. She raised an eyebrow. "So, you're not mad at me?"

Goten looked confused. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad?"

"Well, I mean.... I don't know," Bra said.

Goten stood and turned on the light. "I'm not gonna try to make you do something you don't want to do, Bra."

Bra laughed a little. "Something I don't WANT to do? Yeah, right." She blushed. "Believe me, it's something I WANT to do." She stood and walked over to him. "It's just something I can't do right now...for some strange reason."

Goten put his hand on her face and smiled that smile of his. That wonderful reassuring Son smile. "I have way too much respect for you to force you into a situation you're not ready for. I thought we talked about this."

Bra smiled and put her arms around him. "We did. Thank you, Goten." She lay her head on his chest and listened to his heart pound rapidly.

"So.... Are you ready now?" Goten asked.

Bra looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"I'm kidding!" he said with a goofy laugh. "Come on. I'll fly home with you."

Was he kidding really? She'd never find out.

--at home--

Bra and Goten levitated outside Bra's bedroom window.

"Well, this is your stop," Goten said.

"So it is," Bra sighed. "I had fun tonight."

Goten nodded. "So did I."

How was she supposed to feel when this was quite possibly the last time they would be alone together? Depression set in. These days it seemed that she lived for these quiet moments alone with Goten. And now they were being taken away, all because she hated history. It seemed an unfair punishment. It made her wish she would have taken advantage of their time alone in his bedroom. Well, that was the past. She had to run with what she had now.

Without warning, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She'd have to use this moment to remember his taste. There was no telling when they would have an opportunity like this again.

Goten put his arms around her tightly and returned a kiss that would have seen infinity if they had the time. But he stopped kissing her much too soon for her liking and smiled at her. "I love you," he whispered.

Bra was sure that her heart had stopped. What in the world had possessed him to say something like that? She wanted to respond, but her mouth had sealed shut. Usually this was referred to as a state of shock. She wished she could find her voice so that she could tell him that she loved him too. Boy, this was a bad time to lose the ability to speak.

Goten just looked at her for a long time. Even in the dark, she could see the look in his eyes. He was hurt. She had hesitated and it hurt him. He released her and looked away.

"Goten, I...," Bra began. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she say that she loved him? She did. She knew she loved him. She'd admitted it to herself many times. But for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say it. This should have been easy. "I...."

Goten smiled sadly. "I'll see you at school Monday, okay?" He flew away, leaving Bra hovering outside her bedroom window.

She couldn't believe it. There was absolutely no reason for not to tell him that she loved him. Was she out of her mind? She'd told her mother that she was in love with him. Her MOTHER. She never talked to her mother about anything, but she'd told her that she loved Goten. Yet she couldn't tell Goten that she loved him. Why?

Bra continued to levitate there until she heard someone say, "All the fighting you did to be with him. What a waste."

Bra gasped. She already knew the voice. It was her father. She looked up in the tree outside her bedroom window and saw him sitting on a branch. "Papa? Wha--What are you doing here?" She knew she was in some real trouble now. Especially if her mother told him that she was grounded.

--End All That You Taste--

--Welcome to another episode of Eclipse. Thanks for reading. Please review. Let me know what you like or what you don't like. I don't write very good fluff or romancy type stuff. I don't know what normal people consider to be romantic. I'm not a normal person. If you have some suggestions or tips on how I can improve in this area, please let me know. We're all here to learn, right?

--I think that maybe someone is becoming a little frustrated. What do YOU think?

--There's nothing but trouble on Bra's plate these days. What's Vegeta gonna do? Find out in the next episode of Versus 3: Eclipse.


	4. All You Feel

--Original Character Alert! Unfortunately, there was no way for me to do what I wanted to do without including an outside character. I tried. And I failed miserably. So, for those of you who don't like reading stuff with characters that are not DB, DBZ or DBGT related, proceed with caution. This character will exist throughout the rest of this story. You have been forewarned.

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All You Feel--

Failing a test, being grounded, screwing up with Goten, and now this. Had her father seen Goten and her kiss? If he had, it was a BIG surprise that he hadn't tried to chop Goten's head off.

Bra watched her father as he hovered down to where she levitated. "I should ask the same of you," Vegeta said. "Your mother told me that you'd locked yourself in your room because you were grounded."

Bra looked around for an answer. What was she doing here? "I...."

Vegeta folded his arms across his chest and smirked. "If you can't come up with a lie any faster than that, then maybe you don't want to see Kakarot's youngest brat anymore."

"What does it matter? I'm not gonna be able to see him anymore anyway. With that new tutor around, I may as well be given a 24-hour babysitter," Bra complained.

"As much as I'd like for you and the clown's son to be apart, I have to agree with you," Vegeta told her. "I don't look forward to having an old live-in know-it-all crowding up my space."

Bra copied her father's position. "My sentiments exactly." She looked at Vegeta out of the corner of her eye. "You're not gonna tell Mom I snuck out, are you?"

Vegeta laughed. "You don't know me very well, do you, child?"

Bra looked confused. Was that supposed to be an answer?

After a moment of silence, Vegeta spoke again. "I heard what happened here a few minutes ago. Now, as you know, I'm not one to pry. So I'm sure we both feel...out of place...."

What was he talking about? It wasn't like her father to babble. This WAS out of place.

"I'll just get to the point here. You have a problem with...THAT word," Vegeta continued.

THAT word? What word?

"You most likely inherited that from me," Vegeta went on.

Inherited what? Bra wasn't sure what he was talking about. She just looked at him strangely.

"What are you looking like that for?" Vegeta asked.

"Dad, I don't know where you're going with this. What are you talking about?" Bra questioned.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "And you're supposed to be the smart one in all of this? Where has your mind been?"

Bra growled.

"I'm talking about what that twit said to you before he left," Vegeta told her.

Bra blushed. "You heard that?" Of course he heard it. He was sitting right above them when it was said.

"Yes," Vegeta replied. "Welcome to the discussion. Now, like I was saying, you're probably never going to say that word to him. I've never said it to your mother. Never."

"Really?" Bra said. This was awkward. She never thought she'd be talking to her father about something like this. Of course, it made more sense than talking to her mother about it. She spits THAT word out like it's some kind of greeting. What was up with that?

"And I won't ever say it to her. Do you know why?" Vegeta asked.

Bra shook her head.

"I don't either," Vegeta informed her.

So what was the point of this very strange, very uncomfortable conversation?

"It's just the way some of us are," Vegeta continued. "And she's still trying to get me to say it to this day. I don't understand why some people think it's so important to SAY it...."

Okay, he'd gone off into his own little world now. Man, her dad was a spectacular fighter, but she wasn't sure if he was altogether there. But she understood what he was getting at. He never said it to her mother, but he really did love her. And just because he didn't say it didn't mean that he didn't love her. At least she was pretty sure that that was what he meant. Theirs was a strange relationship indeed. Maybe it was a sign that she and Goten could work through this little shortcoming.

By the time Bra turned around to say something else to her father, he was gone.... Typical.

--the next morning--

Bra awoke to a rainy morning. It was a little after 9:30 on Saturday. She'd slept late and she couldn't help thinking about her night with Goten. She wished she could have told him how she felt about him. She really did love him. She'd never been in love before, but she knew that the way she felt about him HAD to be love. It was the only logical explanation for her feelings. If it wasn't love, then what else could it be?

She got out of bed, showered and got dressed. She was stuck in the house. A whole Saturday at home with no one except her parents. How boring. Sure, that was the way she spent most of her weekends anyway, but that was when it was HER choice. Now she was being forced to stick around. That sucked. Maybe she could take this time to begin a rigorous training program so that she could challenge her father to a rematch.

She walked into the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast when she noticed that her mother was sitting at the kitchen table talking to someone. Bra didn't even look in their direction. She just sighed loudly. This must be her new tutor. She really didn't look forward to meeting whoever it was.

"Good morning, honey," Bulma said cheerfully. "I know you're still upset about being on punishment, but when you're older, you'll understand."

Bra opened the fridge and frowned. She had no comment. It was good to know that her father didn't voluntarily tell Bulma about her total disregard of authority last night.

"There's someone I'd like you to meet. Your new tutor. His name is Nick Carnage," Bulma continued.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Bra," the one called Nick greeted.

Bra finally turned to face the old geezer who would be her tutor for who knew how long. But when she laid eyes on him, she found that this man was no geezer at all. He wasn't even middle-aged. He looked no older than her brother.

Nick Carnage--age: 27--He's a young man who is devoted to geology and history. He has long brown hair, which was worn in a ponytail, and grey eyes. He looks to be a big hit with the ladies, standing about 6'. Not much else is known about him as of yet.

Bra looked astounded. She wasn't sure what she should think. Wasn't her mother supposed to hire some old boring geology professor?

"I was just as surprised as you are," Bulma told Bra. "He looks young, but he's very well respected in the fields of both geology and history. Some of my colleagues recommended him and his references checked out. Besides, he's very well-mannered AND punctual."

"Thank you, Mrs. Brief," Nick said. He smiled at Bra. "Your mother's told me great things about you."

Bra blinked at him blankly. What was this? Some kind of sick joke?

"Well, Mr. Carnage. It's been a pleasure. I'm VERY impressed. You two should spend the day getting to know each other. Then later on, you can study, study, study," Bulma prattled ecstatically. She trotted off to her lab.

Bra looked at Nick strangely. She was speechless.

Nick held his hand out to her. "I'd like to introduce myself again. My name is Nick Carnage. I work with the geological program at the local college...."

He obviously observed that Bra had remained silent. She wasn't about to shake this guy's hand. He was the enemy.

"I have Master's degrees in both geology and history. I've tutored history for 6 years and I've tutored geology for 4 years...," Nick went on.

Bra was still silent.

"You have absolutely no interest in hearing any of this," Nick said. He nodded. "I can understand that. I've been in your shoes before. Well, not literally."

Bra didn't say anything.

"Hm. Tough crowd," Nick noted. "Well, why don't you tell me about yourself? I hear that you're a master mathematician, an excellent chemist and a wiz when it comes to technology."

Bra only frowned.

Nick looked at her and tilted his head.

Bra raised her eyebrows.

"That's odd," Nick commented. "In all of that, your mom never mentioned that you were mute."

Bra smiled a little and lowered her head.

"Ah, the angry girl CAN smile. But can the silent girl speak?" Nick asked.

Bra looked back up at him. Something about him was very familiar. His goofiness put her in mind of Goten. Mmmmm, Goten. She missed him already.

"Only when I have something to say," Bra responded after a long silence.

"Duly noted," Nick said with a smile. He stood from his seat at the table. "Your mother insisted that I move in. I have to admit, it's somewhat disconcerting."

"How so?" Bra asked. She knew SHE wouldn't want to move in with a bunch of strangers.

"When I got the call, I had no idea I'd be tutoring a girl," Nick told her.

Bra laughed under her breath. "Well, when I was told I'd have a live-in tutor, I had no idea he'd be so young."

"Expect the unexpected," Nick commented.

"That's what they say," Bra said.

Nick smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just bring in my things."

She watched him walk out of the door. When he came back in, she saw that he carried a case of capsules in hand and a gig bag over his shoulder. Gig bag? She looked at it strangely.

Nick noticed what she was looking at. "Oh, don't worry. I practice with headphones. You won't be disturbed. So, which way to my room?"

He played guitar. This was an interesting discovery.

--End All You Feel--

--That was another episode of Eclipse. Thank you for reading it. Thanks for all the reviews too. To tell you the truth, I didn't know there were that many people out there who read this story. Of course, I've probably run some of you away with this new character.

--Speaking of new characters. For those of you who are left, what do you think? Give me some suggestions or let me know your opinions on this guy. Once again, I'm sorry that this character isn't in DB, DBZ or DBGT, but I honestly couldn't come up with anyone else.

--And another thing: Sometimes Vegeta can be one card short of a full deck. But then again, so is his daughter. I just thought I'd say that.

--There are a few surprises up ahead. Please stay tuned for the next episode of Eclipse.


	5. All That You Love

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Love--

Bra found herself staring at the black gig bag over Nick's shoulder. She'd always wanted to play guitar. Maybe she could make the most of this little tutoring bit after all. She smiled to herself.

No! That was a crazy way of thinking. This guy was the enemy. He was the reason she wouldn't be able to see Goten anymore. Well, actually SHE was the reason she wouldn't be able to see Goten anymore. But it was this man who would hinder her late-night escapes to be with Goten. Oh, this was so confusing!

Nick stood there, looking at Bra strangely. "Um.... My room?"

Bra snapped back into reality. "Oh, yeah. Right this way." She lead him down the hall to the guest room. After he went inside, she stood in the doorway. "So, you play guitar, huh?"

"Somewhat," Nick told her simply. He began unpacking.

Somewhat? "What do you mean?" Bra asked.

"Well, I hate to say it, but I'm not all that good at it," Nick replied.

Bra nodded. Oh no! She couldn't become friends with the enemy! It was something she stood firmly against. If you have an enemy, you destroy him on sight. That's the way she lived her life. Somewhat.... Well, not really. It was more like if you had an enemy, you taught him to fear you. That was a good idea. Maybe if she made this guy fear her, he wouldn't want to stay. And if he didn't want to stay, she'd have to go back to having her original tutor. Now THAT was an ingenious plan!

Now what could she do to scare off this unsuspecting guest? Lifting something much heavier than anything a normal human could lift was getting old. She needed a new tactic. But what? Boy, if she only had the Practical Joker around to help her through these tumultuous times. Oh well. She would have to think about this for a long time. In the meantime, she should just be as polite as possible. There was no telling whether he'd go back to her mother and say negative things about her or not.

"I should probably leave and let you settle in," Bra said. She really had no desire to stick around. Being in this guy's presence was beginning to sicken her already. She'd have to see him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was a nightmare.

"Well, you don't have to leave," Nick told her. "Besides, we haven't gotten acquainted yet."

Why should he care about getting to know her? She had no interest in getting to know him. Absolutely no interest AT ALL in getting to know this Nick Carnage.

"I can't help noticing that you're more interested in guitars than you are in history," Nick pointed out.

It was obvious enough. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Do you play?" Nick asked.

Bra laughed falsely. "Yeah, right. I asked for a guitar when I was much younger, but I never got one. So I left that idea alone." Why was she telling him this?

"That's too bad. With arms like that, you'd be a great metal guitarist," Nick told her.

What was he trying to do? Get inside her head? Bra looked down at her muscular arms, then folded them across her chest. She looked back up at Nick. He was probably making fun of her for being such a muscular girl. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Nick saw her reaction and raised his eyebrows. "Not a fan of metal, huh?"

"Wait a minute. I like all kinds of stuff. Stuff you've probably never even heard of. But metal is one of my true loves," Bra corrected. There was that word. Love. She could say it about music. She could tell her mother that she loved Goten. But she couldn't tell Goten to his face that she loved him. Poor Goten. She began to wonder what he thought when she wouldn't say that she loved him.

Nick smiled. "So, you like that kinda stuff, huh? Maybe I'll invite you to one of our shows sometime."

Bra looked at him strangely. "One of our shows?"

"Yeah. I'm in a local band called Eroder," Nick explained.

He was in a band? She looked him over. Well, that explained the metal hair. Wow. She'd never met anyone who was in a band before. But it didn't make sense. She always thought that band guys were rebels living any way they chose, but living only for the road. She never would have thought that a geologist would be in a band. Then she thought for a moment. Actually, she knew of some bands that made it big where the members held regular jobs before they made it. How else could they have survived before their big breaks?

"You said you're not good at playing guitar, yet you're in a band?" Bra asked. She still didn't want to believe him.

Nick shrugged. "Yeah.... Oh, you must think I'm the guitarist. No, no. I'm the vocalist. I just play rhythm."

Here she stood in front of the lead vocalist of a local band. She was now nervous for some reason. Her mother and her entire family were famous for being the richest family in the world, yet when she was in the presence of a member of a small-time band, she lost her nerve.

What was her problem? He was the enemy. She should have no interest in his band. She loathed this man. Or at least she should. But she couldn't help being intrigued.

At some point during her little self-rant, Nick had pulled out his guitar. She knew what it was. This deadly-looking piece of equipment was the Epiphone Gothic Explorer. This all black instrument was a sure sign that you either played heavy metal or goth metal. That is, unless you were just a wanna-be suck-band that played washed-up pansy rock and tried to pass it off as black metal by using that particular piece of gear (as so many bands do these days). The question at hand was: Was this guy the true form of metal, or was he the flower-power version? If she wanted to find out, she would either have to ask him to play for her or she'd have to go to one of Eroder's shows.

She watched him as he placed the guitar on a stand beside his bed. "You say that you're JUST the rhythm guitarist. You down-play it like it's not an important role, when in actuality it is." She felt like she'd become a rock journalist. An interviewer.

"It IS an important role. But I'm a vocalist and lyricist first," Nick said. "I mean, sometimes I'll put my guitar down during a song and just focus on the words. I don't play during every song. And sometimes it's the other way around. Sometimes I'll step away from the mic and just play guitar during a song. Of course, we don't play a whole lot of instrumentals. That's why I focus more on vocals and lyrics."

Bra could tell that this was something Nick was passionate about. There was a certain look in his eyes as he spoke to her. She couldn't help admiring this man. But how long could you admire...the enemy?

Nick chuckled to himself. "Look at me. I'm chittering like a chimp. I haven't learned very much about you. I know you don't like history and I know you like metal. That's about it."

"That's because that IS about it. I play video games and I build things," Bra told him.

"Don't you do things with your friends?" Nick asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs at his desk.

"No," Bra said plainly.

Nick cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Okay.... You're a popular girl, I'm sure, but I'd like to ask this question. Do you HAVE any friends?"

Bra rolled her eyes. "Of course I have friends," she uttered with an annoyed sigh.

"Well, I just wanted to ask that because you seem like a bit of a loner," Nick told her.

Now Bra was becoming irritated. Was he trying to read into her world? Because if he was, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. She shot him an angry look. "Listen, Carnage. You can be any way that you wanna be. How I'll be, that's up to me."

With that, she left. It was the right thing to do. If she would have stuck around, she may have said something harsh. She didn't want to do that. She actually had to live with this guy for a while. She still wasn't quite sure how to take this fellow. He was nice. They shared a similar passion for some of the same music. But he seemed to be a habitual button-presser. She wondered if he did it on purpose. Unfortunately, after she had time to cool down, she would have to see him again. Her mother wanted them to begin studying today.

--End All That You Love--

--Another episode of Eclipse has ended. This one was a bit weird and maybe a little on the less interesting side. But thanks for reading this episode. And as always, thanks for the reviews.

--What do you think? Is Bra just paranoid? Is this guy deliberately getting on her nerves? Or is it neither? Is she just taking everything the wrong way? Or is she just trying to find reasons to dislike him? Let me know your opinion.

--There's more to come, so please stay tuned.


	6. All That You Hate

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Hate--

So, biting at Nick wasn't the most polite thing to do. He was only pointing out what he observed. He couldn't be faulted for that. But Bra still needed time to clear her head. To think about things. To see things from the proper perspectives.

This young man was out of his element and was trying to get to know the people he would be spending most of his time with. Okay. That was understandable. But there were a lot of things she hated. One of those things was when people who didn't know her tried to make assumptions about her. In her book, that was injustice number 2. The only thing that beat that out was underestimating her, which was ultimately an assumption. So both should really be put under the same category.

Currently, Bra sat in her room on the floor. She was trying to meditate. It was something she didn't do often, but she probably should have done more. If she could manage to un-cloud her mind for even a few moments, then maybe serenity would reign where anger had so long prevailed. But her mind was a clutter of random, misshapen thoughts. Mostly thoughts of how she would get out of the house again to see Goten. She wanted to apologize to him for being unable to say what she was feeling.

She opened her eyes and looked at her telephone. Calling him couldn't hurt. She looked at the clock. It was almost 11:30. She crawled over to the phone, picked it up and turned it on. That was strange. No dial tone.

A familiar voice began speaking to her. "Sorry, honey. I had to put a lock on your phone myself because I didn't want to get the line disconnected," the voice of her mother informed her. "So, obviously, if you're listening to this, you've tried to make a phone call while on punishment. Don't forget that you don't have phone privileges. Buh-bye."

Bra growled. Her mother had put a boot on her phone line. Bra had to admit, it WAS somewhat cleaver. Of course, she'd never tell her mother that. It would go right to her head. She put the phone back in its cradle and stared at it. How was she supposed to let Goten know how she felt? It seemed she would have to wait until Monday.

Bra stomach growled loudly. Oops! She hadn't eaten today. That was very un-Saiyan-like of her. Maybe she wouldn't bump into her new tutor this time.

She made her way to the kitchen and low and behold, there was her father. She couldn't avoid HIM either. But then again, why would she want to? "Morning, Papa."

Vegeta grumbled as he rummaged through the refrigerator.

Bra went over and stood right next to him. "Have you met the tutor yet?"

"No," Vegeta muttered.

Good. If she could get her father on her side about this new intruder then maybe he could be voted out of the household. "You'd hate him."

"That doesn't say much. I hate everyone," Vegeta murmured.

Bra raised her eyebrow. It was no surprise to get a statement like that out of her father. But how could she use it to her advantage when it was no surprise to her mother either? Man, she needed a more deviant brain than her own to conjure up a way to make this whole situation work in her favor. If she could only talk to Pan....

She found that her father was looking at her strangely. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

Bra reached into the fridge and grabbed some grub. "Well...." What would set this man off? When she didn't want to make him angry, it was easy to do. But Heaven forbid she ever WANTED to make him angry. She couldn't send enough sparks at him to start that fire. It was a dangerous thing when her father was angry. She'd have to do this just right in order for him NOT to go off and try to kill someone. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't completely send him off the deep end.

Vegeta started pulling out food as well. "Some time today would be nice. I've got better things to do with my time, you know."

She would just have to bide her time. She needed input on this situation. She would have to wait till she could talk to Pan again. "No reason." She thought for a minute. "But there is something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?" Vegeta asked.

Bra sat at the table and spread her food out before her. She looked at it for a while. She wasn't sure why she was about to ask her father what she was about to ask him. It had plagued her since it happened. She needed an answer, so she worked up the nerve to ask: "Why did you give us your consent? Why did you agree to let Goten and me see each other?"

Vegeta looked at his daughter for a long time. "There's no SIMPLE explanation." He walked back outside, food and all.

That was it. That was all he was going to say. There was something to it. She knew there was. But SHE'D never find out unless he felt like telling her one day. The chances of that happening were slim. Bra frowned.

--later that day--

She hadn't seen Nick since he got there. She wondered if he was even behind the door in front of which she currently stood. Something had brought her back here. Maybe it was the thought that this young man might tell her mother that she hadn't made an effort to study with him. Or maybe it was that she had been so rude to him when she left that it was weighing on her mind. In either case, she had to apologize for her behavior. And she had to do it before she changed her mind. She knocked on the guest room door.

Nick opened the door and smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Bra. Welcome back."

This small action had already gotten under her skin. There was no way that this guy could possess one of the very qualities she liked in Goten so much. It was almost sickening. Why was it sickening? It was something she LIKED. Man, this was really messing her whole thought pattern up.

What would be the best thing to do? Act as if nothing had happened? Or apologize, and THEN act as if nothing had happened?

Bra took a deep breath. "Mr. Carnage--"

"Please, call me Nick. All of the other people I tutored did," Nick told her.

"Well, Nick. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier today," Bra apologized. "I'm not much of a morning person." There! She'd done it! Now, that wasn't so hard.

Nick laughed. "No kidding." He motioned for her to come in. After she walked into his room, he became serious. "Listen, I came here to do a job. Whether we become friends or not has nothing to do with what I'm here to do."

Bra just looked at him. Where did that come from? This guy must have been some kind of psychopath. At first he was happy, and now this. His tone was serious. His expression was serious. It was almost frightening. It wasn't like her to become intimidated by a regular person. And even though she knew that she could squash him like a bug, she couldn't help respecting him for his maturity.

"I'd like for us to be friends. I really would. But my job here isn't to make new acquaintances. My job is to help you learn more about history," Nick continued in his serious tone.

Maybe he felt that she wasn't interested in getting all friendsy with him.

"You understand what I'm trying to say, don't you?" he asked, sounding a little less sure of himself.

Bra nodded. She wasn't sure why she wasn't using her voice. It worked perfectly fine just a minute ago.

Nick smiled. "Good. Now, I'd like to meet your teacher. I know that you don't have any interest in history, but I'd like to know what your teacher's goals are for this class. And I want to find out what your particular problems are with this class. It's definitely not your ability to learn. You are indeed the brightest person I've ever tutored."

He wanted to meet her teacher? Bra froze. Why didn't that sound like a good plan? What was it that made her panic when it came to the idea of going to class with this man? Something about Goten meeting this new tutor bothered her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was uncomfortable with the idea.

Bra looked at him strangely.

Nick pulled out his history book. "Alright. I really don't have any idea where to start here, so I guess I'll just go over what history is and the ways people of the past recorded history."

Bra frowned. This would be a long, looooooooooooong weekend.

- & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -

--Monday morning--

Bra had slept through all of the tutoring sessions she had with Nick. She completely understood now why Pan found it so easy to do. The incessant droning of history lessons was soothing and allowed you to sleep quite well. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Bra had gotten more sleep than she ever had before. Had Nick noticed? Probably. Did she care? Not really.

But today was different. Today was the day she'd finally be with Goten again. It hadn't been a long time, but it seemed like forever since she'd seen him. She sure did miss him.

Bra walked into the kitchen after getting dressed for school. She saw her mother sitting at the kitchen table chatting with Nick.

"Good morning, honey," Bulma greeted with glee. "You two must really be hitting the books. I was just telling Mr. Carnage that I haven't had a chance to see either of you all weekend."

Bra frowned. Maybe this Carnage guy wasn't so bad after all. He hadn't told her that she was sleeping during his lectures.

"I told you this would work out wonderfully," Bulma said.

Bra rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Mrs. Brief. We're still working out some of the kinks, though," Nick told her. He gave Bra a look. "But once I find out exact what her teacher's plans for the year are, we'll really be in business."

"That's great. I'm so excited for you. You'll be making Bs before you know it, Bra," Bulma clucked.

Stupid hen. All she did was talk, talk, talk. Bra folded her arms across her chest.

"Alright, Miss Bra. We should get going. I still have to get to work by 8:00," Nick said to Bra.

Bra nodded.

--End All That You Hate--

--Thanks for enduring another strange episode of Eclipse. Also, thanks for the reviews.

--So, tell me what you think. Why wouldn't Bra want Goten and Nick to meet each other? They're both striving for the same goal. So what's the problem?

--I know this chapter wasn't the most exciting, but we got past it, right? I hope you'll stay tuned for the next episode.


	7. All You Distrust

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All You Distrust--

Her weekend had been a disaster. She should have left home at some point to be with Goten. If she got away with it once, she could have gotten away with it again. It would have been easy. Then again, Goten was already worried about her getting into trouble the first time she snuck out. He probably wouldn't have been able to have a good time because he'd be worrying too much. So that would have been a waste. And of course, somehow, her father would have known. He seems to know everything. But that wouldn't have mattered because he would never rat her out to her mother. And who cared if she found out? What could she do? Ground her again? That was a joke. Bra could just sneak out again. Well, her mother DID invent some of the strangest things at times. There was no telling what she would have come up with. As a matter of fact, that's probably what kept her father at bay sometimes.

So besides spending most of the weekend sleeping through history lessons, Bra had finally begun a new little project. She would build her very own gravity machine in which to begin her new workout regimen. Bra was pretty excited about that. She had access to all the equipment she needed in her mother's lab. Of course, she'd need a little advice, but it was the most convenient thing she could think of at the time. It would take up most of her day until it was time to study with her new tutor.

"It's been a while since I attended this school. Seems like centuries ago," Nick reminisced as he walked through the halls of Bra's high school.

Bra frowned. She couldn't believe that there was nothing she could do to avoid this. Stuck coming to school with her tutor. Well, at least he wouldn't be staying the entire morning. He had his own job to get to. She watched Nick as he walked around, looking at the lockers. How sentimental he had become. It made her wonder if he was going to spend all day at that one locker in particular. That one must have been his years ago. She doubted that she'd be able to remember which locker was hers ten years from now. She could barely remember which one was hers from day to day.

She opened the locker three doors down from the one Nick stood at.

"Whoa. I just had a major deja vu trip," Nick announced.

Bra rolled her eyes. What was he talking about? It was like he was a war vet recalling battles of the past. She looked at the nut-job out of the corner of her eye.

"My locker was here," Nick continued. "And my old girlfriend's locker was right where you're standing." He looked at Bra. "We'd be the first to arrive at school everyday...."

Bra sighed. What did she care about his old girlfriend and her locker? She looked at Goten's dark classroom. He hadn't arrived yet. Hopefully he would be here soon. The sooner he got here, the sooner Asylum-Guy could leave. She was ready to get this over with. Now that there was no avoiding it, it was time to face it head on.

What was she so afraid of...?

She caught sight of Nick looking at his watch. "You know, I could ask my teacher what we'll be studying and bring it back to you," Bra suggested. She'd do anything to avoid doing this today. Not on the day that she had to apologize to Goten. Hell, she'd already apologized to one person in the past 3 days. She wasn't good at apologizing. She'd never practiced it. And she'd never planned on actually doing it. She was the daughter of the prince of all Saiyans. She shouldn't have to apologize to anyone.

Nick laughed a little. "Thanks, but I think I'd rather find out for myself. Getting a head start on what you're being taught will allow me to better help you during tutoring."

He wasn't helping during tutoring now. She slept through the whole thing. It was all such a waste of time. She could see where he was coming from about doing his job, but she really needed a way to get this guy out of her house.

Just when Bra was about to say something, Goten came down the hall. He may as well have been bleeding because the look on his face was a hurt one. It brought back the memories of that night. The night that had been so wonderful before THAT word was brought up. Then her wonderful night became a nightmare. She watched Goten as he approached. Luckily they were the only three people in the hall at the time.

"Hey," Goten greeted, barely even laying eyes on them. He opened his classroom door.

Bra couldn't find her voice at that moment. Even if she could, she wouldn't know what to say.

"Hello," Nick said to Goten.

Goten turned back to him and looked at him strangely. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were standing there, sir. How may I help you?"

Bra still wasn't able to talk.

"Well, I'm looking for this young lady's history teacher. I'm hoping it's free to assume that you are he," Nick stated.

Goten folded his arms across his chest. "That's right. What can I do for you?"

Nick looked at Bra, then back at Goten. "My name is Nick Carnage. I'm Miss Bra Brief's tutor. I just wanted a little information about your curriculum so that I'll have an idea of what Miss Bra should be concentrating on with her studies."

Goten raised an eyebrow. "You're her new tutor?"

"That's correct. I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name," Nick told Goten.

"Son," Goten said simply.

"Alright, Mr. Son. If I could have a copy of your lesson plans, I think I would be most beneficial," Nick explained with a smile.

Bra still wasn't able to talk. She just watched as Goten talked to Nick. She noticed that Goten hadn't smiled once the whole time. That was very unusual. But then again, she HAD recently broken his heart.

Goten raised both of his eyebrows. "Of course." He went through his briefcase and pulled out some papers. He looked at them for a long time. Then he stood. "I'll just go make a copy for you, Mr. Carnage."

After he left the room, Nick looked at Bra strangely. "Are you okay? You seem a little distracted," he said.

Bra looked at him. She wasn't really sure what to say. She wasn't even sure if she had the ability to talk. Clearing her throat, she managed to say, "I'm fine." The truth of the matter was that she WAS distracted. But that could have gone without saying.

Goten returned with some extra papers and handed them to Nick. "This is basically what we're going to cover for the rest of the year."

Nick nodded to Goten and extended his hand for a shake. "Thank you, Mr. Son. I believe that between the two of us, this young lady will become quite knowledgeable in the field of history."

Goten shook his hand.

Just as Nick was about to leave, the classroom door opened and in walked Pan. She'd almost run the poor guy over at the speed she was traveling.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I--" Pan began. She looked at Nick and gasped. "Oh my gosh! You're...you're Nick Carnage!"

Nick smiled. "Hello."

Pan dropped her books on the floor and shook his hand ecstatically. "Wow, it's really Nick Carnage!" She looked over at Goten and Bra. "You guys never told me that you knew Nick Carnage." She narrowed her eyes at them.

Goten looked confused.

Bra frowned.

Nick raised his eyebrows and returned Pan's handshake. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"No, you don't. But I think Eroder is, like, the best band on the planet," Pan told Nick.

"Band?" Goten asked.

Oh, boy.

Nick smiled. "You say it like we're big-time. But thanks anyway."

"You're big-time to me," Pan chirped. She finally let go of his hand. "You're big-time to a lot of people in this city."

"Thank you," Nick said. "What's your name?"

Pan blushed. "Wow! He asked me what my name is!"

Goten frowned. "Well, you might wanna tell him."

"Oh. Right. I'm Pan," she stated.

"Pan. That's a nice name," Nick complimented. "Well, I've gotta go to work. I'll see you later, Miss Bra. It was nice meeting you all."

Bra waved to him as he exited.

"Nick Carnage thinks I have a nice name," Pan said dreamily.

Goten sat at his desk and stared at his papers.

Her ability to speak had to come back soon, or she wouldn't be able to tell Goten how sorry she was for not saying that she loved him. Of course, saying it in front of Pan would be hard. Bra looked at Pan, who was lost in her own little rock-n-roll fantasy. She wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying anyway. Bra walked over to Goten's desk.

"Um, Goten...," Bra began.

"He's a little young, isn't he?" Goten questioned. He wasn't really looking at her. He was kinda looking past her. "Much younger than I expected."

"Yeah. My mom said that too," Bra explained. "But listen, I didn't come here to talk about him. I want to talk about us."

Goten finally looked at her.

"What y-you said last n-night...I...," Bra stammered.

Goten just stared at her.

"I wanted to say...I...," Bra attempted to say.

Goten sighed and smiled sadly. She hated when he did that. "You don't have to say it, Bra. I said it because that's the way I feel. You don't have to say it just because I said it."

"But I...I'm sorry...." Bra frowned. She felt that way too. She just couldn't get the words out of her mouth for some reason.

Pan danced over to Bra and hugged her. "You have no idea what this means to me, guys," she sang. "How in the world do you know Nick Carnage?"

Goten went back to looking at his papers.

Bra frowned and looked at Pan. "He's my history tutor."

"The one who's supposed to be living with you?" Pan asked.

Now how did she find out about that? Bra nodded slowly.

Goten looked up from his desk. "He's living with you? How did I miss that part?"

Bra raised her eyebrows. "I thought I told you."

Goten frowned.

Pan grabbed Bra by the hands and grinned. "You are SO lucky. You're living with a rock god. I'm gonna have to start dropping by more often."

"I can't have visitors. I'm grounded," Bra told her.

"Who says I'll be there to visit you?" Pan asked. She let Bra's hands go and danced back to her desk to daydream.

Bra looked at Goten strangely as he sat at his desk in deep thought. Was he threatened by the thought of her living with this new tutor?

--End All You Distrust--

--That's that. Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 3: Eclipse. Also, thanks for the reviews.

--Hey, I know this episode was a little off. I don't know what it was, but it seemed really strange to me. Let me know what you think.

--Stay tuned! There's more to come.


	8. All You Save: Back in the Day

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All You Save: Back in the Day--

Bra, six years of age, ran into the living room, grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "It's time for my favorite cartoon!! Pokemon!!" she sang. She sat on the sofa.

Fifteen-year-old Trunks stood behind the sofa with his hands on his hips. He frowned at his little sister and looked down on her out of the corner of his eye.

Bulma came into the room, followed by Vegeta, who was carrying several bags and suitcases.

Trunks looked at them and his eyes stretched. "Oh, no!"

Vegeta frowned at the boy and headed outside to put their bags in the car.

"Alright, kids. Your father and I are going away for the weekend," Bulma announced.

Vegeta came back inside.

Bra gasped. "You're leaving?!" she whined.

Trunks narrowed his eyes. "You're leaving?!" he whined at the same time Bra did.

"Yes. And I expect you to take care of the house and your sister," Bulma told Trunks.

"You're leaving HIM in charge?!" Bra asked. She looked at Vegeta. "Papa, Mom's leaving Trunks in charge!"

Vegeta looked at Bra and smirked. "Well, he IS the oldest."

"Hmph! I don't have to listen to him just because he's older!!" Bra said. She looked at Trunks. "If you try to tell me what to do, I'll fry you good." She looked back at the TV.

Trunks looked at Bra out of the corner of his eye.

Vegeta laughed. "Have fun, boy." He left.

"Take care, kids." Bulma waved good-bye to them.

"But Mom, I had plans for today," Trunks said. He turned his back to Bulma. "Now, if you want me to babysit, I'll have to know ahead of time so I can set my plans to do it. In this case, you're gonna have to make some phone calls to find a babysitter who can stay until you get back." He turned back around to Bulma, but she wasn't there. His shoulders slumped and he looked at the ceiling. Then he walked over to the sofa. "Alright, Bra--"

"No talking while Pokemon's on!" Bra said, still looking at the TV.

Trunks sighed loudly and went into the kitchen. "This is gonna be the worst weekend of my life." He sat at the table and lay his head on it. Soon he heard the doorbell ring, so he slowly walked back into the living room.

Bra had answered the door. Their visitor was Goten--age: 14.

"Hi, Bra. What are you doing answering the door?" Goten asked cheerfully.

Bra pouted. "Mom and Dad left for the weekend, so now I'm stuck here with the big chuckle-head in charge."

Goten looked at Trunks and grinned. "Guess that kills your plans with Milly, huh?"

Trunks squinted his eyes at Goten. "Shut up."

Goten picked up Bra and sat on the sofa with her on his lap. "What's on TV?"

"Pokemon," Bra answered.

"POKEMON?!!" Goten shouted. "I LOVE Pokemon! Especially that Pikachu! He's so cute!"

Bra giggled. "He's my favorite too." She looked at the TV. "It's back on."

Trunks looked at them lazily. "This is terrible," he muttered.

"No talking while Pokemon's on!" Bra and Goten said simultaneously, still looking at the TV.

Trunks threw his hands up and sat in a chair.

--after the show--

"Trunks, I'm hungry. Where's breakfast?" Bra asked.

"Breakfast?" Trunks said.

"Yeah, you know. The meal you eat in the morning," Bra snapped at him.

Trunks clinched his fists. "Listen, don't you get smart with me, you little brat."

Bra stood up. "What did you say?!!!" She started powering up and formed an energy ball in her hand.

"Alright, calm down. I'll cook you something," Trunks told her. "Just don't destroy the house." He went into the kitchen, muttering all the way.

"Gee, Bra. You're only 6 years old, but your power is almost equal to Trunks'," Goten said.

Bra smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet. Papa told me that my power is almost equal to Trunks' when he's about to go Super Saiyan. Pretty soon, I'll be able to go Super Saiyan. Papa just doesn't want me to try to do it yet," she said proudly.

Goten gave her a strange look. "Really?"

--in the kitchen--

Trunks had on a frilly apron and was running around the kitchen, trying desperately to make the food perfectly. "Should I make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, omelets, over-easy, sunny-side up...?" He was looking at a book called Eggs for Dummies. It was a book his mother used quite often and unsuccessfully. He shook his head and put on his oven mitts. "Man, I hope she appreciates all this hard work." He opened the oven and took out a pan of pretty alright-looking biscuits. "Hm."

--outside--

"Final Flash!!!!" Bra yelled, distributing her beam of energy.

"Kamehameha!!!!" Goten shouted, doing the same.

Bra had powered up to full power, so she was giving Goten a hard time, but surely if he went Super Saiyan, she wouldn't stand a chance.

--inside--

Trunks heard and felt the two outside. "Oh, NO!!" He ran out, fully clothed in cooking gear. "Both of you stop it!!" he bellowed angrily.

Goten looked over at him and looked surprised. His beam stopped and he ended up getting hit by Bra's attack. He fell to the ground.

Bra looked surprised. "Oops!" She ran over to Goten, as did Trunks.

The boy was mostly just toasted. He sat up and winced. "You...pack quite a wallop, Bra. You should be proud."

Bra smiled after she saw that he was okay.

"Am I babysitting both of you?!" Trunks asked. He stood with his hands on his hips. "Young lady, you go to the living room and sit there till breakfast is ready."

Bra frowned at Trunks, but did what she was told.

"Goten! She may be strong, but she doesn't have full control over her powers! You could have seriously injured her!!" Trunks lectured. "If she would have gotten hurt, I would have been held responsible. Dad woulda had my ass on a platter, you hear me?"

Goten looked at him from his seat on the ground and nodded.

"Now, what I want you to do is go get in my dad's regen tank for a while and I'll get you some clothes," Trunks said. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that again, got it?"

Goten nodded again, then raised his hand.

"What?" Trunks asked.

"Can I have some breakfast first?" Goten murmured.

"Breakfast?" Trunks said, looking confused. Then he looked surprised. "The bacon!!" He ran inside and went straight to the kitchen. The stove was on fire and a lot of it was spreading across the counters. "Why isn't the fire alarm going off?" He grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out the fire in a matter of minutes. The whole kitchen was blackened and so was Trunks. He walked into the living room, where Goten and Bra sat peacefully watching TV.

"Trunks," Goten said, looking at him. "Is everything okay?"

Bra looked at Trunks too. "What happened in there?"

Trunks just stood there looking at them.

Suddenly the smoke detectors alarmed. Trunks rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take a shower. Then we'll go out to get breakfast."

--at the restaurant--

"Trunks," Bra said quietly.

Trunks poked his omelet and looked across the table at her. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble this morning," Bra told him. Her eyes watered and her voice was shaky.

Goten lowered his head. "I'm sorry too, Trunks. I was really stupid today. Not only that, I think I...broke your dad's regen tank." His voice trailed off terribly, but Trunks still heard him.

"You WHAT??!!!!!!!" Trunks yelled, standing from the table. His power level shot up quickly and he went Super Saiyan 2.

The whole restaurant, staff and customers, evacuated the building quickly.

"Trunks.... Please calm down," Bra whimpered.

Goten grabbed Bra like a package under his arm. "I think we'd better get outta here, kid!" He ran out of the building as quickly as possible. By the time they got outside and turned around to look at the restaurant, there was a blinding light around it. It immediately exploded and Trunks came floating out of the wreckage.

"I don't think he's happy, Goten," Bra muttered.

"Me either, kid," Goten said, still holding Bra.

"GOOOOOOOOTEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!" Trunks yelled, continuing to power up.

Bra grabbed Goten's shirt. "Let's get outta here!"

Goten held onto Bra and flew off as fast as he could.

Trunks turned around to them quickly after he felt Goten's power and he took off after them.

--on their way home--

"He just needs some time to cool off," Goten said, now flying slowly toward Trunks and Bra's house.

"I sure hope so. I have to stay with him alone tonight," Bra told him.

Goten frowned. "It's me he's mad at. He wouldn't take it out on you."

Bra looked up at him. "But what about you? I think he wants to hurt you."

Goten stopped dead in mid air and stared down at the house. He looked panicked. He swallowed hard and began to stammer, "F-f-f-from the look on his f-f-face, I th-th-think he does too."

Bra looked down at the house and saw Super Saiyan 2 Trunks standing on top of it, looking up at them with an angry look on his face. He narrowed his eyes. "Goten."

Goten pushed Bra behind him. "Trunks, I said I was sorry. What else can I do?"

"Bleed," Trunks said. He flew toward the boy at lightning speed with his fist drawn back, ready to knock Goten's soul from his body.

Bra phased in front of Goten with her arms stretched out and her eyes closed. "Trunks! Stop it!"

Trunks stopped his fist less than an inch from Bra's nose. His power dropped down, as did his hair. He was back to his regular form. "What are you doing?"

"Trunks, don't hurt Goten. He's your friend," Bra said.

"He's gonna get me killed. Now on any other occasion, that would be fine, but we're talking about Dad here," Trunks explained.

"What if I told you I can fixit?" Bra asked.

"Fix what?" Goten and Trunks questioned.

Bra looked into the sky. "Dad's regen tank."

Trunks smiled. "Oh, Bra. Can you?"

Bra nodded. "It shouldn't be a big problem."

Goten just looked surprised.

Bra flew down to the house and went straight to the tank.

Trunks looked at Goten. "Listen, Goten. I'm sorry I wanted you dead a few minutes ago. It's just that my dad would've killed me if he saw that his regen tank was busted."

Goten waved absently at Trunks. "I understand. I wouldn't want Vegeta to be mad at you. Are we still best friends?"

"Don't turn into an after school special, Goten," Trunks said. He went inside.

Goten only shrugged and followed him. "I'm hungry," he whined.

"We just got finished eating at that restaurant. Now come help me clean this kitchen. It's all your fault it's half burned, you know," Trunks said.

--some time later--

"Ah! Good as new!" Bra sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. She went into the kitchen.

"Ah! Good as new!" Trunks said.

"Finally," Goten added.

"Guess we all finished at the same time," Bra said.

"It's really fixed?" Trunks asked.

Bra nodded confidently. "Just the way Mom had it. Not much was wrong with it. The equilibrium inside the chamber was off a bit and a few knobs broke off. It's fine now."

"And you're sure she's six?" Goten asked.

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Even I'm not sure anymore."

"Anyway, when do we eat?" Bra asked.

"I asked the same thing," Goten told her.

They both looked at Trunks.

--End All You Save: Back in the Day--

--Another episode of Eclipse is out. Hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, it was another of my infamous past episodes. It's fun to do, so I do it. Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews. Let me know what you think.

--Happy holidays to all! See you again for the next episode!


	9. All That You Give

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Give--

"He's living with you?" Goten asked again.

Yep, that sounded like jealousy. But there was no reason for Goten to be jealous. Nick meant absolutely nothing to her.

"Yeah, so he's living with me. What's the big deal?" Bra questioned.

"What's the big deal?" Goten repeated. "I'll tell you what the big deal is. If your mom was gonna bring someone like him in, she could have at least let me know."

"She just met the guy Saturday. Besides.... Wait, 'someone like him'? What exactly do you mean?" Bra looked at Goten strangely.

Goten sighed. "Well, he's young. And he's in a band. A band, Bra. Guys in bands are like guys in fraternities."

Man, today was not one of Goten's better days. He was really freaking out. This was so unlike him. She'd never seen him this way before. He was always so cheerful, so carefree. There was nothing on the planet that could bother him. But now things were different. He seemed to be in some kind of a panic.

"Fraternities? How so?" Bra asked.

"Come on. Fraternity guys only want two things. Popularity and girls," Goten told her. He looked her up and down. "And any guy in his right mind would do anything to be with a girl like you."

Bra blushed. She was flattered not only by the statement, but also by the way he was looking at her. It made her feel all warm inside. "Look, we're past that. I'm never gonna be able to convince my mom that this was a bad idea. We just have to work around it." She lowered her head. "I really wanted to see you this weekend."

"I wanted to see you too," Goten said quietly.

The other students began flooding into the classroom.

"We'll talk about this later," Goten told her.

Bra nodded. It was at that moment she realized that Goten might actually be feeling a little insecure. She still hadn't told him that she loved him. And on top of that, she was living with a man who was close to his age. She wished she could bring herself to say that tiny little phrase that meant so much. When you love a man, you're supposed to tell him. How will he know that you love him if you don't tell him?

As a matter of fact, they hadn't even established whether they were in an actual relationship yet. Maybe the next time they were alone, she should suggest it. A gesture like that would HAVE to prove that she loved him. Of course, he'd already said the magic words, and they weren't really even boyfriend and girlfriend. How stupid could she be? All she had to do was say three little words. It was all so simple. Then why was it so hard for her to do? She could do anything. She was the daughter of the great Prince Vegeta. Then again, it was precisely that which made the simple task seem impossible.

On her way to her seat, she noticed some of the girls giving her the eye. What was their problem? Hadn't they ever seen a person talk to her teacher before? But rather than make a scene about it, Bra took her seat and stared at the window.

Tap, tap. A finger poked at her shoulder from behind. Bra turned to face the smiling Pan. She would be yammering on about Nick, no doubt.

"Can you believe it? Local rock sensation, Nick Carnage said that I have a nice name," Pan said.

"Pan, you're acting like you don't know any famous people. Your grandfather's the WORLD champion, remember? And you're pretty popular yourself," Bra told her. Honestly, she had no business saying this to Pan. Why, only a couple of days ago, the idea of meeting someone like him had had almost the same effect on her. She was turning out to be a bit of a hypocrite.

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't play death metal," Pan reminded her with a smile. "You act like you don't know who this guy is."

"Actually, before this weekend, I didn't," Bra said.

Pan gasped. "No way! A music fan, such as yourself? Well, I guess if I coulda dragged you out of the house more often, you woulda known who he was."

"Who cares?" Bra said, nonchalantly.

"Bra, you're such a social nobody," Pan told her plainly. "Any girl in this town would just fall to pieces in your position."

Bra smirked. "Well, good thing I'm not any girl in this town." With that she turned her attention back to Goten. She couldn't help thinking about the way he moved during sparring matches. As a matter of fact, the last sparring match they had was her loss. She owed him for that too. She would really have to get on the ball with building her gravitron. She had two debts to pay and she intended to pay both in full.

--later--

The bell rang, signifying the end of class. All of the students seemed to disappear without a trace. And they were alone again. Bra and Goten. He erased the blackboard and of course, Bra sat back, admiring his movements.

This was Bra's time. If she didn't make her move now, then she would never make a move.

She stood from her desk and went over to stand beside him. "Goten, we have to talk."

Goten finished up his task at hand, then turned to look at her.

Whether he wanted to say something or not, she would have to stop him so that she could do all the talking. "I know that I've hurt you. And I'm really sorry for that. I can't even find the words to say how sorry I am that I've caused you this kind of pain." She felt tears sting the backs of her eyes. Not now. There would be no crying. She wouldn't allow herself to burst into tears. She did her best to regain some of her composure before she spoke again.

Goten only watched her silently. His expression was somewhat sad, yet somewhat confused.

"But I want this relationship to work. I want it to work because there's no one on this entire plane of existence that I'd rather be with," Bra said. It seemed she was saying everything except what she needed to say. She took a deep breath. "I want this to be official. I...want to be your girlfriend."

Goten looked at her strangely and there was a long silence. Then he folded his arms across his chest. "Well, now. It looks like we both have something we're not able to say."

Bra looked surprised. This wasn't her Goten. This wasn't her Goten at all. Something somewhere had gone terribly awry. How could he do this to her? How could he purposefully hurt her? Now, she really wanted to cry, but she would have to muster all of her pride in order to fight against it.

Just when it looked like Goten might speak again, the classroom door opened. In walked the red-headed counselor, Paris. Resilient fool, wasn't she? Now this woman had been dumped several times, yet she kept coming back for more. Bra couldn't blame her. It was all for Goten.

But that didn't stop Bra's anger, as misdirected as it might be at the time. The hatred ran through her veins like a high-speed subway through a tunnel.

"Hi, Goten," Paris said. She ignored Bra, as she always did.

"Hi, Paris. Listen, I'm sorry about how things went the other day," Goten told her. "But you and I just don't work."

Bra had lost his attention. There was no point in her staying really, but she continued to stand there.

Paris sighed. "I came all this way. I came to work at this school. All for you. But I see now that it was all in vain. You're a very special man, Goten. I just hope that whoever ends up with you knows what she has." She frowned. "I'm transferring to a children's clinic next week."

Why did this woman feel the need to tell Goten this? Was she trying to get a last minute chance at him?

"Well, good for you," Goten said. "You...seem to like kids, so that's right up your alley." He didn't sound very confident about that statement.

Paris sighed. "I'm gonna miss having you around, Goten." She went over to him and hugged him tightly.

What was this? Bra wasn't really sure if she existed. Maybe all of this really was some kind of a dream. Nothing about this day had gone her way. It was possible that the entire day was something her mind had conjured up and decided to show her during the night.

Paris let him go. Bra guessed that it was because she had received no response from Goten. "I'll just go now." She exited the room, leaving Bra and Goten alone once more.

Goten was silent. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. He just stood there.

Well, Bra wasn't about to say anything. Especially with the ugliness that had gone on before hand.

"Tell me this one thing. You said that there's no one else you'd rather be with. Is it because you've never TRIED to be with anyone else?" Goten asked quietly. He still wasn't looking at her.

Bra was about to speak, but stopped short. Why was he asking her this? She didn't care about other people. No one could make her feel the way Goten made her feel. Besides, she had tried to be with other people.... Well, not really.... Well, in a way she did. That had to count for something.

"Maybe we should cool things down for a while," Goten said.

That's when her heart sank. She was certain that she was as white as a sheet now. She felt cold all over. Not to mention she had a case of word-loss.

"I mean, I've been to college. I've been to school. I've met the people that you read about in books. But you. You haven't really had a chance to live your life. You haven't been exposed to the different types of people there are in the world. Maybe...maybe you should take some time out to do that," Goten suggested.

Oh, crap. Was he breaking up with her already? Had she screwed up so terribly with him that he felt he should cut their short-lived relationship?

Goten still hadn't looked at her. "I believe that maybe I did rush things a little. I don't want you to be stuck with me when you could be out meeting new people."

Bra was astounded. Why would he even think something like that? She never saw it coming. Why was he doing this? Why was he breaking up with her? Was it really because she wouldn't tell him that she loved him?

He looked at his clock. "Oh, boy. Your science teacher is really going to start wondering why you're always here during his class." He started writing out a pass to class.

This was impossible. Why was this happening? Why today? And why couldn't she say anything?

--End All That You Give--

--Hello. It's been such a long time since I last updated. I know. I'm really sorry. I'm in the middle of MOVING. Gotta love that. Unfortunately, I'm losing my main computer in the process. So, I don't know how often I'll be able to do this anymore. I'll honestly try my best to get these chapters out, but I'm not gonna make any promises that they'll be coming out as quickly as they have before. I don't even know if they'll be coming out at all. But I'm gonna keep writing them until I DO get to a computer somewhere to post them. I'm really sorry about the delay.

--Also, with the changes that have been going on in my life, the story has taken a strange turn. I didn't know that the things that were happening with me would result in such an unusual turn of events. Let me know what you think. If you hate it, say why. If you like it, say why. If you have suggestions, let me know. (I'm gonna be truthful here. I personally think that this is the worst thing I've ever done.)

--Like I said before, these episodes will probably be few and far between. For that, I apologize. Thanks for reading and thanks for past reviews.


	10. All That You Deal

Versus 3: Eclipse

All That You Deal-

After she had basically been dumped by someone she wasn't even officially dating yet, all she felt was gloom. Despair. Agony. Deep dark depression. Excessive misery. She'd made it so far in life. She'd won the heart of her childhood love. She'd fought her father to be able to keep him in her life. She lost that particular battle, but she had won the war. Now there was something else in her way. No outside force had caused this breakup. It was her age. Her lack of life experience was the reason that they were now officially over before they had even officially begun.

She was so astonished at the sudden parting of ways that she couldn't even find the strength to cry. Any normal girl in her position would be bawling her eyes out by now. Her heart was broken and she felt sadness, but something else was there. A deep-seeded anger that had always been there began to rear its ugly head. Self-resentment. Self-loathing. Self-hatred. And ultimately self-destruction if she didn't deal with all of this soon.

All she wanted right now was to cry. She believed that if she could muster some tears, she might feel better. If she couldn't cry, then the best thing for her to do would be to work out until she became too exhausted to do anything else. And she had to do it now. NOW.

That's when she took off. She left the school, something she'd never done before. Not physically anyway because mentally she was never there.

Her aura shone bright blue-white around her as she jetted over the trees. She remembered flying over these trees only a few days ago with Goten. She looked down to the place where they had landed. She remembered the kiss they'd shared in the middle of the forest beneath her. He had always been so gentle with her. So kind. Why was he doing this now? She wouldn't understand for the life of her where this sudden change had come from.

She landed atop a mountain and inhaled the frozen salty aroma. It reminded her of him for some reason. Her eyes focused on the waters so far below and she sat.

And sat...

And sat...

And sat...

And...sat...

How long she sat there watching the waves crash against the shore, she did not know.

She tried to understand it all. What had he said to her?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Maybe we should cool things down for a while... I mean, I've been to college. I've been to school. I've met the people that you read about in books. But you. You haven't really had a chance to live your life. You haven't been exposed to the different types of people there are in the world. Maybe...maybe you should take some time out to do that... I believe that maybe I did rush things a little. I don't want you to be stuck with me when you could be out meeting new people."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How could he think that? She wasn't stuck with him. She'd chosen to be with him. How could he think that she would even want to meet new people? If she wanted to meet new people, she would go off and meet new people. Why was he making this into something that it wasn't? It wasn't like he had somehow persuaded her to fall in love with him. She already knew that he was the one she wanted.

She now stood atop the mountain she had chosen. She punched rapidly at nothing at all. She watched as the speed of her attacks sliced through the cold air around her. Kicks were thrown at record-breaking speeds. Elbows, knees, more punches and kicks, all directed at an imaginary opponent...

later-

Bra took a deep breath and looked at the sky above. She had a few options left: 1) she could accept what Goten was trying to do and continue on without having him in her life; 2) she could try desperately to talk him into being with her again; or 3) she could MAKE him want her back. She liked option 3, but how could she make him want her back when he was the one who broke it off with her? She had no idea about how to deal with the opposite sex (or any sex, for that matter). Talking to her mother was not the way to handle this situation. She had to find someone who knew enough about men to give plausible input, so Pan was out. Her brother. Why even think of HIM for this? He's a guy. He wouldn't work. There was one last chance. The only one of her so-called friends who had at least SOME experience with guys. She would have to talk to...Marron.

The school day wasn't over yet, so she wasn't due back home until a little after 3. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to the blond bitty. But would she be at home? There was only one way to find out.

Bra took off from the mountain top and soared through the clouds. This was one of her more rational plans. It had to work. Unfortunately, she would have to chat with someone she didn't really care for, but it was for a worthy cause, wasn't it?

When she knocked on the door at Kame House, 18 answered it. She looked at Bra strangely.

"Hi," Bra said. She wasn't really sure what else to say to the blond android.

"Bra. Shouldn't you be in school?" 18 asked rather blandly.

"No... I had an out-of-school assignment to do today," Bra lied. Boy, she didn't even believe that one. She frowned. "I was hoping I could talk to Marron."

18 raised an eyebrow. "Marron's pretty busy in her office."

Ah, Marron's office. Bra remembered Marron talking about a room she'd set up in the house to become her design office. That must be what 18 was talking about.

Krillin was suddenly standing behind 18. "Hey there, Bra. Um...shouldn't you be in school?"

"She has an out-of-school assignment," 18 said to her husband. She turned her attention back to Bra and gave her a look. What was that look for? It was like she didn't believe what Bra had told her. "Come on in. I'll tell Marron you're here to see her," 18 told her.

Bra walked into the quiet little house. It was just as she remembered from her childhood. "Could you tell her that I really need to talk to her? It's very important." She felt regret already. She had lied to friends of the family. Her mother would definitely find out about this. And not only that, but in order for her to get some advice from Marron, she would have to volunteer information about her situation.

While 18 stepped out of the room, Krillin decided to make small talk with Bra.

"You know, Bra, it's rare that we ever see you anymore," Krillin began.

Bra smiled a little. "I've been busy." She knew what Krillin meant. When she was younger, Pan, Marron and she would spend some time at each other's houses every now and then. It just wasn't like that now.

"I see. So how have things been going with you? I hear that you're seeing Goten now," Krillin said with a smile.

Bra's heart began thumping madly. She couldn't tell him that Goten had broken up with her. She also couldn't tell him that she was definitely seeing him. What was a girl to do at a time like this?

After an uncomfortable silence, Marron came to the living room. "Hi, Bra. My mom said that you had something important you wanted to talk to me about."

Bra took a deep breath. Blood was quickly pumping through her veins. She felt a little light-headed. She had narrowly escaped explaining things to Krillin. With the way she felt now, she wondered if this was the rush that Pan got every time something came through for her. She looked at Marron and nodded.

Genetics were indeed a funny thing. While Bra was shorter than both of her parents and probably would remain so, Marron was taller than hers. How did things work out that way? How did it turn out that the only non-fighter out of the girls was taller than both of them? Pan was relatively short herself, but not as short as Bra. As a matter of fact, no one thought Pan would grow for the longest time. She was even shorter than Bra was as a pre-teen. But that was really no surprise. For some reason, the Sons just stayed short up until a certain age. Then they sprouted up like weeds. At least Bra and Marron grew at normal intervals.

When they got to Marron's "office", the young designer closed the door. "Looks like someone's skipping school."

Bra didn't like the way things were starting here. She'd come to Marron in her time of need and here was Marron poking fun at her. She was beginning to get angry.

"Mom told me that you said you had some kind of out-of-school assignment," Marron said, snickering to herself.

Now Bra was angry. She could have smacked the pretty blond right out of the window.

Marron looked at the expression on Bra's face and calmed herself. "Okay. I'm just kidding around with you. Don't take it personally." She sat down behind her desk. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Bra took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Marron anything. Why should she trust this woman with her deepest secrets? Especially when she'd probably just laugh her out of the ballpark? She honestly couldn't even stand to be around this woman, but she really had no other alternatives.

Silence.

"Listen, I'm sorry," Marron told her. "I already knew that when my mom said that you were here instead of at school that it must have been important." She was finally serious. There was some sincerity there as well.

Bra was almost at her wit's end. With nowhere left to turn and little hope, she took another deep breath and told her story...

Marron was very attentive and seems quite interested in the tale. At one point she even looked like she might cry.

"And here I am," Bra finished.

Marron looked thoughtful and nodded.

Bra had never reached out to Marron in such a way. It probably shocked Marron just as much as it shocked her that she was here telling her all of this.

"Well, Bra, considering my own past experiences, I'd say that this is a bit of a doozy. I mean, you like him and he likes you, yet he broke up with you in order to let you find out who you really are. It's really kinda romantic," Marron told her.

Bra blushed. Marron WOULD think it was romantic. She was such a sap.

"But there are some things Goten isn't considering in this," Marron continued. "One is that women mature a lot earlier than men do. Another thing is that when you're in love, you're just in love. Also, you are a very, very persistent person."

Ha! She was so right about that last part. Bra had almost forgotten herself how persistent and even stubborn she could be at times.

"I can see things from both points of view," Marron said.

"So, what should I do? How can I get him back?" Bra asked.

"From what I gather, you already have him," Marron stated plainly. "You never lost him."

Bra sighed. "Well, it doesn't look that way to me. There must be some way for me to keep him around. I don't want him to just be my teacher. We've always been more than that."

"That's right. You're best friends. Which is why I can't understand your relationship. You know what you should do? Just be friends with him like you always have," Marron said. "Don't let things change between you. Spend just as much time with him as you always have, if not more. Then he'll come to the realization that he can't live without you. You don't have to necessarily be a couple. You can just be together."

It was the smartest thing she'd ever heard Marron say. And Bra smiled at her. "Marron, you're alright. Thanks for the advice." She headed toward the exit, then turned back around to her. "Oh, yeah. I've been bugging you with my relationship problems. The least I could do is ask how yours is going. What's up with you and Uubu?"

Marron frowned. "I haven't seen him in a while. Every time I think we're getting somewhere, he takes off." Then she smiled. "It reminds me of what ChiChi always said about Goku. He was never around, but he was always there in a nick of time."

Bra was getting depressed just hearing her talk about it. "Well, whenever he decides to stick around, I'm sure your relationship will be just as legendary as Goku and ChiChi's is." She waved to Marron. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. It was good talking to you," Marron said.

Bra nodded. "Same here." She left.

End All That You Deal-

I'm back! I'm sorry for the long wait. After an extra extended wait, I have returned with the latest episode of Versus 3. And though this come-back special was a bit of a bore, I did come back. I told you I wasn't gonna just let this story go.

I know a lot of you out there thought I wouldn't be doing this anymore, but here I am again. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 3: Eclipse. There's more to come. And just because there may be some breaks in between doesn't mean I won't finish it. So let me know what you think and I'll keep shoveling these things out like so much snow on your driveway. Until next time, see ya!


	11. All That You Buy, Beg, Borrow or Steal

Versus 3: Eclipse

All That You Buy, Beg, Borrow or Steal-

Good old Marron. Who ever would have guessed that the person Bra tried to avoid most would be the person who would give her the best advice? Sure, she may not have meant it the way Bra took it, but it definitely beat giving up. Besides, giving up wasn't something Bra was known for. And even Marron remembered that about her.

Now it was on to the planning. She could easily get out of the house as long as her mother was preoccupied. Her father didn't give her much grief about sneaking out, so that was okay. But what about Nick? There had to be a way to keep him out of her affairs. They would likely study into the night, but today it was important for her to get out early. So what could she do to convince him to give her the night off? Especially after he went to all the trouble to get Goten's lesson plan this morning?

Bra soared above the clouds as she thought things through. According to the position of the sun in the sky, it was a little after 3:00. She would have to get home soon before her mother began to worry. Then again, her mother was probably in her lab, fiddling with some sort of new device.

She landed outside the door and before she could reach into her pocket and pull out the house key, the door swung open.

There stood Bulma with her hands on her hips and an angry look on her face. "Young lady, where have you been! Your school called and said that you missed 5 classes!" she screamed.

That's right! She'd forgotten all about the school calling when you were absent. Bra frowned, but remained silent.

"I asked you a question, missy! Where-were-you-all-day?" Bulma continued furiously.

Bra just looked at her and wouldn't answer.

"You've been hanging out with Goten, haven't you? Ever since you two got back into contact with each other, you've been different. And now that you're a couple, it's worse," Bulma said. "I never would have thought you'd go so far as to skip school."

That pretty much pissed Bra off. She wanted to cry, but her pride wouldn't let her. She just ground her teeth and said, "For your information, he broke up with me."

The expression on her mother's face quickly changed from infuriated to saddened. "Oh, Bra. I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"Just leave me alone," Bra said, looking away and folding her arms across her chest.

"But why? Why did he break?" Bulma began. She was about to walk over and put her arms around her daughter, but Bra gave her a threatening look.

"Stay away from me," Bra hissed, backing away from her mother.

Bulma looked hurt. "Bra, I'm sorry things are going badly for you, but that's really no reason to be angry with me." She walked over and put her hand on Bra's shoulder. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

Bra looked at her mother's hand on her shoulder. This woman was truly brave. If Bra would have been feeling just a hair more violent, she would have reduced the woman to little more than the crud on the bottom of her shoe. Her mother had really lucked out on this one. Instead, Bra looked at her mother's kind and sincere face. Was this what her father had fallen for? This kind yet stern, intelligent yet somehow foolish set of eyes before her? This woman with all the pride and bravery of a lion, yet the physical fortitude of a candied yam? Maybe. Bra smiled to herself. Maybe her parents' relationship wasn't as odd as it seemed.

Bulma looked at Bra strangely. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm fine. I'll talk to you about it sometime," Bra found herself saying. She touched the hand her mother had put on her shoulder, then went to her bedroom.

The atmosphere of her room seemed different for some reason. She looked around to see if someone was there. No one. Then she caught sight of an envelop lying on her bed. She sure hoped it wasn't another invitation to a fashion show.

When she turned the letter face-up, she saw that her name was written on it in Goten's handwriting. It was a letter from Goten! She hurriedly tore it open and began to read:

& - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -

Dearest Bra,

There are many things I'd like to express to you, yet I can't seem to find the words. I know that I've hurt you, and for that I am sorry. But I will not apologize for why I came to the decision that we should not be together. Like I told you, you are still young and there are things in life you have yet to experience. I don't want to take those experiences away from you. Right now you should just live. Live life for all it's worth. I can't say that it'll be easy. I can't say it'll go smoothly. I can't say that one day someone else won't come along and steal your heart away. That's a risk I'm willing to take if it'll make you happy and allow you the experiences you may have otherwise missed out on. So, once you get to the halfway point, I'll be waiting there. And I'm hoping we can make it to the finish line together.

All of my love,

Goten

& - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -

The tears that had eluded her for so long finally came. She hated to see this letter. It truly made everything final. Heart-broken, she held the papers to her chest. Papers? More than one? She turned to the second piece of paper:

& - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -

Strength, Kindness, Beauty, Intelligence

Confidence, Grace, Humor, Perseverance

Voice, Smile

Scent, Style

That's why I'm crazy on you.

& - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & -

She could barely make out the words for all the tears in her eyes. It was a goofy, yet sweet poem that bled the name Goten. Only Goten would have written something like that and actually sent it to someone. It made her feel all warm inside.

And while the letter seemed to be a sweet farewell, she still had all intentions of 'being friends' with Goten. If she didn't at least have him as a friend, then how would she live?

She sighed and sat on her bed, still holding the letter from Goten. The amount of damage that this breakup was causing her was well beyond compare. There was no amount of physical pain she had ever endured that could even come close to her present suffering. Not with her strenuous training spells. Not with the fight she had with her father. Nothing came close.

Suddenly there came a tapping at her door. Bra had a feeling the person on the other side was her mother, so she was really in no hurry to answer it. She slowly put Goten's letter in her desk drawer, dried the tears from her face and made her way to the door. She sighed heavily and opened it. "I know I said that I would talk about it, but I really need more time," she said, not even looking up at the visitor.

"Um, actually, I thought that I was supposed to do all the talking," a male voice commented.

Bra looked up at the person at her door. It was Nick. He was sure here early. Her mother told her that he didn't get off from work until 5:00. He stood there smiling at her and holding his history book. Boy, she'd never noticed how big that history book of his was until now. Everything about every point in history had to be in that one book. "Oh... Hey."

Nick looked at her closely and his smile slowly faded. "Are you okay? I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

Bra looked away. "No, you didn't." She turned around to pick up her history book. She wanted to change the subject quickly. She didn't want him to ask any questions. He seemed like the type to pry, but not really. She didn't really know what to make of this guy. She'd only known him for a couple of days. Maybe she should just make some small talk. "So, how has your day been?" She hugged her book to her chest and turned back to him.

Nick leaned against the entrance to her room with his book in one hand and the other hand in his pocket. "Pretty good." He looked out into the hall in both directions, then looked back at Bra. "Actually, that's why I'm back earlier than usual. I wanted to take you someplace."

What? He wanted to take her someplace? What was he talking about? Where did he want to take her? Why did he all of a sudden want to go somewhere with her? "Um..., I'm grounded, remember?"

Nick smiled again. "I know." He turned and headed toward his room.

She didn't know what to say. Not only did it seem like he was going against the rules of her household, but he had also pulled one of her favorite techniques. He'd half explained something, then walked away. Now she was interested. She followed him to where they would be studying.

She found herself standing in the doorway of the guest room. She watched as Nick took his seat at the desk that was set up for their study session.

Nick looked back at her. "You're probably not the type to do this sort of thing."

Bra looked at him strangely. Starting a conversation like that made her somewhat nervous. She wasn't sure what this guy was getting at. Then again, that type of statement got under her skin because it seemed he was underestimating her. And as she'd stated so many times in the past, she hated being underestimated. She walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. "Explain," was all she said.

Nick leaned back in his chair and teetered on the back legs of it. "Well, Eroder's got a show tonight and I told you that I'd take you to one sometime."

"You got a Monday night gig? That's gotta be real exciting," Bra asked sarcastically.

Nick laughed a little. "I understand why it would seem strange. But you'd be surprised how many college students and night dwellers are looking for something to do on a Monday night."

"I guess," Bra said. She still couldn't believe this nonsense. "So, when did you have time to go get this Monday night gig? During your lunch break?"

"Oh, right. Your mom thinks I work all day. Well, actually I do, but not in the way she thinks," Nick explained. He sighed. "She doesn't know I'm in a band. I don't think she'd take me very seriously as a tutor if she found out that I play guitar and sing part-time."

Bra sat in the seat next to Nick and lay her book on the desk.

"You see, I work at the college from 8:00 to 1:00. Then there's lunch. And after that, the guys and I have band practice till 6:00," Nick continued. "I know I'm deceiving your mother. It's really not fair for her to take me into her home when I haven't told her all there is to know about me, but I love helping people, I love geology and I love this band." He looked at Bra. "Will you keep this between us?"

Bra wasn't sure what to say. Letting her mother in on this was a sure-fire way to get this man out of her life forever. But Nick seemed so dedicated to the cause. She kinda felt sorry for him for some reason.

"Please?" Nick asked.

There was something there-Bra wasn't sure what-that made her agree to it. Maybe it was the fact that it went against her mother. Maybe it was the fact that this was the life of a band they were talking about. Maybe it was the fact that Nick had a look on his face that reminded her of something or someone. All she knew was that she had agreed before she knew it.

"You're alright, Ms. Bra," Nick said. "Thank you. I owe you big for this."

Hmmmmmmm... That little statement gave Bra an idea. "Well, since I'm doing a favor for you, maybe you can do a favor for me." She didn't want to tell a perfect stranger everything about her situation, but getting him to cover for her when she made her great escapes would definitely give her an advantage whenever she wanted to go out and see Goten. "I have some very important things to handle during certain nights. I'd really appreciate it if you could give me a couple of nights off so I can do this stuff."

Nick frowned. "I don't know. I'm already taking a big risk taking you to the show tonight... But I guess it couldn't hurt."

Maybe this guy was more of a rebel than she previously assumed.

"Now, if I plan on getting you out of the house, I'm gonna have to do a little speed tutoring. It IS what I'm being paid for after all," Nick reminded her.

Bra nodded. She looked forward to what the night may bring. Though she was a huge music fan, she had never attended a concert. As much as she would have liked to, she simply couldn't deal with the crowds. But this was the perfect opportunity to get used to the atmosphere AND to see if Nick was worthy of his instrument of choice.

End All That You Buy, Beg, Borrow or Steal-

Yet another episode is up and out. Hope you enjoyed it. I know. There's not much in it TO enjoy, but I'm sure it's all coming down to something. What that something is, I just don't know yet.

I rant and I rave: That letter from Goten was kinda cheesy, don't you think? Maybe he's the insane one. I know if I were him, I wouldn't send this girl, who I know has a bad temper, a letter like that. She could come back and slice me into little pieces in my sleep. And to tell the truth, if I were Bra, I'd probably go and do it. What your stand on this?

Anyway, thanks for reading this episode of Eclipse and thanks for the past reviews. Whether they are good or bad, they really help out a lot, so don't back down if you see something you don't like. Let me know.


	12. All You Create

Versus 3: Eclipse

All You Create

She had to admit. She was nervous. She'd never been to a concert before. She was an avid collector of music, yet she had never graced a live show in her life. How ironic. And now, here she was in the back alley of a club that she probably had no business being in, with the lead vocalist of the band that was playing here tonight. A guy that she barely knew, no less. It gave her goose bumps.

Bra had changed into a white blouse, a long thin black leather coat, matching leather pants and black boots. She was never sure what to wear when she went out because she didn't do it often. She hoped that she wasn't going to embarrass herself by wearing her present ensemble. Nick didn't seem to mind. Look at her! Caring about what other people might think. It was like her worst nightmare come true.

Nick knocked on the back door of the club. "I hope you don't mind chilling with us while we warm up a little. The other guys are probably already here."

"I don't mind," Bra told him quietly. She took a deep breath.

She followed him into club and looked around.

"I'd like you to meet some friends of mine," Nick began. He started introducing his band mates:

Todd - age: 26 - He works alongside Nick at the college and is the drummer in Eroder. He stands about 5'10" and has long blond hair. He appears to be the joker of the group. While he can't seem to be serious off stage, he's always ready to wear out his Pearl drum kit whether he's on or off stage.

Wes - age: 29 - He works alongside Nick at the college and is the bassist in Eroder. His long brown hair is much like Nick's and he seems quite easy-going. But that all changes when this 6'3" monster is thundering out the meanest bass lines anyone's ever heard from a B.C. Rich. Not to mention belting out backing vocals.

Hunter - age: 26 - He works alongside Nick at the college and is the lead guitarist in Eroder. The shortest one in the band, at 5'7", he more than makes up for his size by firing pure sonic alchemy and lightning-fast liquid metal riffs on the custom-built super villain he calls The Black Death. Yet, strangely enough, this red-head isn't much of a talker.

"Guys, this is Bra. She's the one I'm tutoring, the Capsule Corp. daughter," Nick told the rest of the band.

The one they called Todd looked Bra up and down. "Not bad, Nick. But isn't she a little young for you?" He laughed.

Bra frowned. Yet another bunch of people who thought she was a kid. Had she been in her right mind, she would have at least attacked him verbally. Unfortunately, she was so awe-stricken by the fact that she was even in the situation that she didn't know what to do.

"Don't disrespect the lady, Todd," Nick said.

How nice. Not only did he call her a lady, but in a way, he was defending her in the presence of his friends. That was kinda cool.

Nick pulled his guitar out of its case. The Epiphone Gothic Explorer. The jet black apparatus was truly a sight to behold. Bra was almost sure that she could see her own reflection in the body of the instrument. She gazed in awe upon its beauty. Unsure of why she was so fascinated with this guitar in particular, it took all of her power just to breathe.

Nick pulled out a pick and strapped himself in. "Here we go."

He started in on the riff and any beginning rock fan would have thought the song was Metallica's 'Four Horsemen'. She knew the song. It was the Megadeth song 'Mechanix'. She wondered how they were able to play such a song so well without actually playing it exactly like the band played it. Nor was it played the way Metallica played 'Four Horsemen'.

Any normal human would have been struck blind by the speed at which Eroder played the song. Fortunately, Bra was used to watching incredibly fast actions all the time, so watching their handy Mechanix work was like an everyday thing. If humans could move the rest of their bodies as fast as this crew's fingers moved, she'd have a bit more competition when it came to fighting.

As for the vocals, they were a little strange coming from Nick. She'd never actually heard him sing, but it was actually good. He was no Dave Mustaine, of course, but he was getting the job done without making her cover her own ears in pain. That was pretty good.

Bra folded her arms across her chest and nodded her approval. No need to make a huge scene over their performance. For the most part, she was definitely impressed. But there was more to a band than the songs they played which belonged to other people. If they played no original tunes with the amount of power and passion they used to play this cover, then she would not be able to make a proper analysis.

Well, it wasn't like these guys needed the approval of a 16-year-old girl. They were obviously already popular among the night stalkers in town.

"Ahhhh, nothing like a little Megadeth to get you warmed up," the one named Todd said, twirling his drumsticks.

Boy, this guy was really chatty.

"Man, I hated the reverb on that," Wes said, flipping through the settings on his processor. He looked over at Nick. "What's the set looking like?"

Nick continued playing soft arpeggios. "Right. I figured we could play maybe 2 covers and 2 of our own songs. What do you guys wanna do?"

He was a considerate leader. While it wasn't really fair to consider him the leader of the band, he took the initiative that a leader would take. He wanted the other members to have their say in what they would perform. It made so much sense, yet the lack of the entire concept seemed to be the downfall of many bands. Bra couldn't help being somewhat impressed with the way the band was being run.

"I think we should play 'Regret'," Wes said.

Nick nodded. "A pretty fast-paced song of ours. That's okay."

Todd stood up and stretched. "I vote for 'Eternal No More'."

Nick raised his eyebrow. "One of our instrumentals. They wouldn't be looking for that."

Bra looked at the only person who hadn't said a word the entire time. She began to wonder if he could talk. The one they called Hunter sat, cleaning his guitar and looking around as the others spoke.

Nick finally looked over at their silent band mate. "Alright, Hunter. You're the master of picking the right covers. What are they gonna be tonight?"

Hunter put his cloth down and smirked. "'Dirt'," he said. "And 'Space Truckin'."

Whoa. Bra hadn't been ready for such a mix-up. They'd just finished playing a Megadeth song as a warm-up. A WARM-UP. Normal people don't play Megadeth as a warm-up. That's supposed to be your show ender. Then they're gonna pull out some weird ones like Alice In Chains' song 'Dirt' and Deep Purple's song 'Space Truckin'. She was impressed before, but now she was thoroughly impressed. Even if some of the audience knew where the song 'Dirt' came from, not even a quarter of them would probably know where 'Space Truckin' came from.

All she had to do now was hear what these other two songs sounded like.

Someone stepped in on their warm-up. "Alright, guys. We already opened. It's time."

Nick nodded to the man, then looked at Bra. "Well, try to get a front seat. These places can get pretty packed sometimes."

Bra raised an eyebrow. "Even on a Monday?"

"Even on a Monday," Nick told her.

"Okay," Bra said.

On her way out, the one named Todd put his hand on her head. "Don't get lost out there, kid." He had a rather stupid grin on his face.

She was mere seconds away from breaking vital parts of Eroder's drummer's body. He had done several things that she hated all at once. She hated being treated like a child and she hated being touched. But if she broke his arms or legs, he wouldn't be able to play tonight. So she gave him a piercing stare, and he backed off. Ahhhh. That was much better.

When she got out to the main part of the club, she was astounded to see that the place was nearly full. So Nick was right. The place WAS packed on a Monday night. She would never find a seat in all of this mess.

Suddenly she heard a faint sound over the rest of the noise in the place. "Hey! Bra!"

Bra turned to see who had called her name out of all the people in this place.

And there, near the front of the stage, stood Pan. The quarter Saiyan waved frantically at her. And next to her was Marron.

End All You Create

We're on the road again. Some of you out there most likely found this chapter very, very boring. And for that I apologize. Bra has a bad thing about music and she gets a little carried away when she talks about it.

Thank you all for reading. And thank you so much for the reviews. And thank you for having patience with me. And thank you for having faith in me. I hope I never have to wait that long to update again. We may even make it through this part of the Versus trilogy.

Anyway, now that we've bumped into Bra's friends, there seem to be more interesting things on the horizon. What will happen? Find out in the next episode of Eclipse.


	13. All You Destroy

Versus 3: Eclipse

All You Destroy

It was funny how the lead vocalist of a band that just happened to be named Eroder was slowly chiseling away at her relationship with Goten. She wasn't sure how she would ever mend something that in a way she never really had. The letter Goten had sent told her that it was really over. Of course, it also told her that he still had feeling for her. It was confusing. If he were in her shoes, surely he wouldn't know what to do either. These were confusing times. Even as she stood in the club in which Eroder was about to play, she thought of him. In order for her to enjoy this night, she would have to get Goten out of her mind. At least for the time being. There would be time later to concentrate on him. Especially after Bra had talked Nick into skipping tutoring some nights. She smiled to herself.

Bra made her way over to her childhood friends. It was hard not getting bumped by all the other people who had gathered in this place. Boy, word sure got around this city fast. Were all of these people really here to see Eroder?

Pan greeted Bra with a confused smile. "This is so strange. What are you doing here? Aren't you grounded?"

Marron waved to Bra.

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "Nick invited me."

Pan screeched with excitement.

"Nick? As in Nick Carnage? THE Nick Carnage?" Marron asked.

Now here SHE was acting like she didn't know celebrities. Marron was kinda one herself. Bra frowned.

"Yep," Pan spoke for her. "I told you that he was living with her. He is SO cool. And he came to school this morning. He said that I had a nice name." She looked like she might explode with excitement at any given moment.

"I thought you were just joking. I didn't take you seriously," Marron said.

"Well, now I bet you believe me," Pan told her.

Marron nodded. She looked at Bra. "You are so lucky, Bra."

Bra thought for a moment. Maybe she really WAS lucky to have this guy around. He was obviously at least somewhat skilled at playing guitar. He was respectful, yet rebellious. And he was smart. Those were all big pluses in her book...

What was she thinking? This man was 11 years older than she. ELEVEN. This was worse than her first situation. Even if Nick were interested in a 16-year-old girl, they could never have a relationship. Especially after what she'd just gone through with Goten. He would probably tell her all the same things Goten had said to her. She wouldn't endure that kind of heartache again. She simply wouldn't. Not to mention the fact that with his popularity, Nick probably already HAD a girlfriend.

Pan took a deep breath. "This is so exciting. I know someone who lives with Nick Carnage. So, what's it like?"

Bra thought for a moment. What was it like? "It's like living with...YOUR dad."

"WHAT?" Pan yelled. "No way! Nick is waaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler than my dad. On a cool scale from one to ten, my dad is at the bottom and Nick Carnage is at, like, 30."

Marron raised her eyebrow. "Pan has a point. Her dad isn't cool at all."

"Hey! I can say that my dad is uncool, but you can't," Pan told Marron.

Marron shrugged.

Bra rolled her eyes. "Listen, you guys can think what you want. I'm just saying that living with Nick is like having a human history book around. He's really brainy."

"You're one to talk," Marron said. "You know everything about everything except relationships and history."

Alright. Bra had to admit, that was true. But Marron didn't have to mention the thing about not knowing about relationships. Couldn't she have left that part out?

"Ladies and gentlemen, without further delay, here's the band that needs no introduction," the club owner announced over the microphone. By the time the people in the audience realized that someone was up there talking, he was already gone.

Nick walked up to the mic and looked around for a moment. There was nothing but silence. "Good evening!"

The crowd broke into a fit of cheering simultaneously.

This was one of the things that Bra had been missing out on all of her life. A band up on a stage in front of her and a sea of people behind her. It gave her a rush that she'd never felt. Not even with all the DVDs of live performances in the world. She even found herself screaming at the top of her lungs. Now when had she even opened her mouth to do that?

This action received strange looks from Marron and Pan, but they too soon broke into screams of their own.

soon

With only a four song set, the young men on stage had finished performing in a little under 30 minutes. They had chosen to end the show with their very own rendition of the song 'Dirt'.

Bra was on clouds at the end of the show. In such a short time, the musicians were able to touch her in a way she'd never been touched. She was thoroughly impressed by their instrumental, 'Eternal No More'. There were really no words to describe it. And their song, 'Regret' was like a thunderstorm raging in a cloudless sky (if that were really possible to even imagine). Proof of this band's style was what she wanted, and boy, did she get it.

But their performance was now over and it was time for the club to go on doing regular club-type things. Eroder started packing up their gear.

"Man, I really love the way Wes moves," Marron said.

"He's alright, but you know who I'm for," Pan stated. "I'm a Nick fan all the way. He's so hot."

"Yeah, did you see the way he was strumming on the verse during 'Regret'? Man, that was pretty complex to be playing and singing at the same time," Bra interrupted.

Pan and Marron looked at her strangely.

"Strumming?" Marron asked.

"Yeah, his picking hand was almost off time, but you could tell that was the way it was supposed to be. And at the same time, he was able to pull of those vocals... I was really impressed," Bra added.

"Wha?" Marron began.

"Well, you know how Bra is. She's more interested in the music than the man. I just happen to see the man before I see the music," Pan explained.

Marron smiled at Pan. "Well now. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a crush on Mr. Nick Carnage."

Bra raised an eyebrow and looked at Pan. Could Pan actually be attracted to this man? She was basically in the same shoes Bra was in. She was barely a year older than Bra. Of course, Bra had always thought that Pan and Trunks would somehow get together. Maybe she was wrong about that. Maybe Pan really DIDN'T have the kinds of feelings for Trunks that she accused her of having for him.

Pan blushed deeply. "No. I just respect him as an artist. I mean, he's a superstar."

"Yeah, right," Marron said. She continued to bug her about it.

Bra laughed to herself. There was really no telling whether Pan liked a guy or not. She seemed to respond in this way to any guy she or Marron chose to discuss. She looked around the place when she heard some music start playing. How could these people listen to the crap the d.j. played after they'd just heard one of the best bands around?

Bra folded her arms across her chest and looked toward the door at the back of the club. She soon realized that Nick was standing there, trying to get her attention. Bra raised her eyebrows.

"Come on back stage! We're almost done here!" Nick had to almost yell to be heard over the rest of the club noises.

Bra looked at Marron and Pan, then looked back at Nick. "Mind if I bring some friends?"

Nick shrugged. "That's cool."

Bra looked back at Pan and Marron, who were still squabbling over who had a crush on whom. "Alright, guys, let's go."

"Let's go?" Marron asked.

"Where are we going? Are we leaving?" Pan questioned.

"No, we're not leaving," Bra told them. "Nick wants us to come back stage."

Both Marron and Pan squealed.

"Oh, my gosh! Do I look okay?" Marron asked. She started messing with her hair.

Pan started straightening up her clothes. "Man, this is awesome."

Bra frowned. Maybe she shouldn't have told them to come back stage with her. They would probably just make her look bad.

They made their way to the back of the club. Bra couldn't help noticing that Eroder's instruments hadn't even been put away. She looked at Nick's instrument of destruction. At times like this, Bra really wished she played guitar. Or any instrument for that matter. She frowned.

"Come on over. We won't bite," Nick said to Bra and her friends. He and the rest of the band were standing on the other side of the room like they had just finished up a meeting.

Todd looked at the girls. "Hot babe alert." He started walking toward them. "Don't listen to Nick, there. We'll bite if you want us to."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Down, boy." He grabbed Todd by the back of the shirt and pulled him back to where he was standing before. "Ignore Todd. He can be a real jerk sometimes."

That Bra could already see.

Nick looked at Pan. "Hey. I remember you from earlier today. You're the girl with the cool name. Pan."

Pan grabbed Marron by the sleeve of her shirt. "He remembered my name," she hissed.

Marron just looked surprised.

It was pretty easy to tell when Pan and Marron had lost their cool. The usually talkative pair had become somewhat silent. Sure, meeting a band back stage was a little overwhelming, but it probably wasn't a good idea to show it.

Bra smiled at Nick. "Well, ignore Marron and Pan. They seem to be at a loss for words." She took the liberty of introducing the girls to the guys in the band.

"I'm sorry. It's just such an honor to meet you," Marron told all of the guys.

"Yeah. We never in a million years thought that we would meet the creators of songs like 'Angel of Mercy', 'Inside the Volcano', 'Regret', 'The Eloquence of a Man Who Spoke But One Word' and 'Metal is My Catalyst'," Pan rambled quickly. She took a deep breath.

"The honor is all ours," Wes finally said, bowing to them.

Hunter nodded to them.

"Nick, man, honestly, where did you find all the hotties? And you're living with one of them?" Todd asked. "I mean, those two look kinda young, but..." He was obviously referring to Bra and Pan.

Both Pan and Bra frowned.

"That's right. So don't get any stupid ideas," Nick told Todd. He looked back at Marron, Bra and Pan. "It's nice to have dedicated fans. You three are welcome to come back stage anytime."

Pan gasped. "This is great. Thank you so much. Your show tonight was killer."

Bra nodded.

"Thanks, really," Marron said to the band.

"We should be the ones thanking you. If it weren't for fans like you, we wouldn't be where we are today," Wes told the girls.

"Yeah, thanks," Todd added. It was the most sensible thing he'd said all day.

Hunter gave them a thumbs up.

Nick nodded. "And if you'd like, you ladies can come eat with us. My treat."

Pan, Marron and Bra looked at each other.

"We wouldn't turn it down for the world," Pan said with a smile.

All You Destroy

Yet another episode of Eclipse is out. Thank you for reading. I know it's been a while since I last updated, but I don't have access to a computer often.

Anyway, enough of that. I know some of you are depressed because Goten hasn't been around for a while. Please be patient. He'll be back. I promise. Remember that this is a Bra/Goten fic, not a Bra/OC fic. Besides, I prefer for Goten to be around too. I mean, he's one of my favorite characters.

Miscellaneous remarks: I couldn't help noticing that some of you aren't into heavy metal (or rock in general). This must be murder for you. I'll try to make things less painful for you in the future. And for those of you who don't know, Deep Purple is a 60s/70s heavy metal band most widely known for the song 'Smoke on the Water'. If you don't know that song, then there's little chance that you know this band at all. But never fear. You won't have to put up with too many more rock references because the Eroder saga is quickly coming to a close.

Once again, thanks for reading and thanks for the past reviews. 'Eclipse' only has about 10 or so more lines, so that's probably how long it'll be before this story comes to a close. That's a lot of ground to cover. So there's no telling what new twists and turns will be added to hopefully keep you interested in this ballgame.


	14. All That You Do

Versus 3: Eclipse

All That You Do

Nick had said that this little Mom and Pop's restaurant was the place they always went to in order to celebrate successful shows. Not a lot of people seemed to come to this place, which was nice. It made for a more private setting. The group made small talk until the food came out. Bra couldn't help noticing that even though she, Pan and Nick were doing most of the talking; Marron and Wes had the most interesting interactions. The few times Wes made a comment, Marron would give him her undivided attention. And vice versa. It made Bra wonder...

There were seven people at the table. The 4 members of Eroder, Bra, Pan and Marron. It was a shame that once the food was ordered, all eyes were on Pan and Bra. Even with four grown men around, no one was packing it in like these two. You can only deny your heritage for so long. Bra and Pan had the blood of the Saiya-jin coursing through their veins. And Saiyans, be they 50 or 25, had to have the proper amount of nourishment. Obviously, Marron had forgotten that. And the band had absolutely no clue.

In a way, Bra felt bad for the people who ran the little burger joint. While Marron only had one hamburger, and the band had put away about 12 in all, the cooks continued to truck out food for the 2 Saiyans. Bra alone had chomped about 14 burgers, but the granddaughter of the eating machine called Goku had finished off around 20. And the fries... Oh, the ocean of fries they had...

But they were being polite. A lot more damage could have been done.

"How in the world did you two eat all that?" Nick asked. He looked quite surprised.

Todd also looked astounded. "Yeah, I mean, where does it all go?"

Pan and Bra looked at each other and shrugged.

"You must expend massive amounts of energy in order to burn off all that food. Do you eat like this all the time?" Wes questioned.

Pan raised her eyebrows. "No. I usually eat more."

"SAY WHAT?" Todd yelled.

Bra nodded. She had always been told that humans would never understand the way a Saiyan's body worked. How it was constantly using energy on an astronomical scale. How even while they are eating their bodies are instantly using that energy and how their bodies have to store up lots of energy until the next time they feast. When food wasn't available, they were either completely zapped of energy or their bodies began using the energy from their actual organs, which multiplied its original energy 10 fold. Few Saiyans operated in the latter way. As a matter of fact, it is rumored that Broly operated in that way. No one could be sure.

"Don't worry, Nick. If money's a problem, I can pay," Bra said.

Nick frowned. "But I said that it was on me. I can't go back on my word."

Pan sighed. "What a guy."

Marron nudged Pan.

Bra shrugged. "If you say so. But I get to leave the tip."

Nick nodded. "Agreed."

He went to the register and paid for their dinner. 245.50 with the group discount. That was pretty good. Bra wasn't supposed to know how much the bill was, but she'd looked at it when the waiter brought it over.

A group of young ladies, who had been sitting at one of the other tables, walked over to Nick. The giggling little cluckers (probably in their early twenties) seemed to be asking him for an autograph or something. Bra never took kindly to those types of girls. They were ridiculous really. The only thing they really knew was that he was good-looking and popular. How many girls cared about the music he and the rest of the band played? How many girls actually cared about the rest of the band? Bra could only shake her head.

"What's up, Bra?" Pan asked. She'd obviously seen her reaction to the wannabe groupies that surrounded Nick.

"Nothing," Bra said with a sigh. What was the use in telling Pan? She was just like them. Drooling over a guy because he was handsome and popular. Some of it may have been the music, but Bra highly doubted that any of these girls appreciated this band for what they produced musically. Was she really the only one who understood the greatness of Eroder as a whole?

"You know, ladies. There are 3 of us now and there are 3 of you" Todd began.

"Don't be a jerk, Todd," Wes told him.

"What? I was just kidding around," Todd said with a dumb smile on his face.

"It's getting pretty late. I think it's time to head out," Wes suggested.

"Yeah," Marron agreed. She looked at Pan and Bra, then back at Wes. "But if you've got a free minute, I'd like to talk to you."

Wes raised his eyebrows. "Sure."

Marron hustled Bra and Pan off to the ladies' room. "Why don't you two take my car? I'll get Wes to take me home."

Bra looked surprised. She wasn't sure what to think. Was Marron trying to hook up with this guy? What about Uubu?

"Marron, what do you think you're doing? You don't even know this guy," Pan hissed.

"Don't worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, he seems sweet," Marron said.

This was ludicrous. "And Uubu?" Bra asked.

Marron frowned. "I don't even know where I stand with him. I can't waste my life waiting for someone if he's not giving me any signals, you know. This guy's been making eyes at me all night." She smiled.

It was a shot to Bra's heart. Maybe that's how Goten felt about the way she'd been treating him. He couldn't know where he stood with her if she never said anything or gave him any signals. There must be something she can do to at least show Goten that he meant everything to her.

Pan nodded. "I want you to give me a call when you get home," she told Marron.

Marron nodded.

Bra walked back out to the eating area and the other girls followed. "You've got a point," she said to Marron. "Come on, Pan."

Pan looked confused. "Wha?"

Bra walked back over to the rest of Eroder. "It was a real pleasure meeting you guys. The show rocked." She looked at Hunter. "Your guitar playing during Eternal No More was incendiary." She looked at Todd. "Your overall drum style was absolutely phenomenal." She looked at Wes. "And you seem to be a master of combining playing and pausing. Not to mention your harmonization with Nick when you were singing." She nodded to them. "All of you were really great on that stage. You have a kind of chemistry that's missing in this manufactured rock scene we have today. I wish you all the best."

It was the most she'd said all night.

"Yeah, keep up the good work, guys," Pan said, cheering for them one last time.

One person in the entire place cheering. Pan didn't seem to mind.

"It was good meeting you girls too," Todd said, waving to them.

"Have a safe trip home," Hunter finally spoke.

Marron had robbed the band of their bassist. The two were on the other side of the room, talking.

in the car

Pan was driving. Bra wasn't sure why she let Wildchild drive. Probably because she had no fear of dying at this moment. And if Pan wrecked Marron's car, she would go into a major tizzy. It wasn't Bra's problem. The two rode silently...at first.

"Man, what a night," Pan said. "I can't believe I actually ate with Eroder. Nick Carnage is the greatest." She looked at the clock. "We're both probably gonna sleep through class tomorrow. It's after 10:30. I'm gonna have to sneak in. I'm not supposed to be out this late on a school night." She sighed. "By the time we get home and calm down, it'll be around 1:00."

"I'm not going home yet," Bra said suddenly.

Pan looked at Bra strangely. "What do you mean, you're 'not going home yet'?"

"Just what I said," Bra replied. "I want you to drop me off at Goten's."

"Are you out of your mind? Your mom's already gonna kill you when she finds out you left" Pan began.

"She's not gonna find out," Bra told her. "Now, I have some very important business to take care of. Take me there."

Pan frowned. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you..." After a while, she smiled. "This is exciting. Staying out late with the threat of being grounded for life. Well, you're ALREADY grounded for life. But once my parents find out that I could have prevented this, I'll be grounded for life too. Then I can sneak out and get into even more trouble. This is great!"

What a twisted perspective her friend had on this whole situation. "No one's gonna find out. So just take me to Goten's," Bra told her.

soon

Bra got out of the car once they got to Goten and Trunks' apartment. "Thanks, Pan. Just don't say anything to your mom and dad about this, okay?"

"Sure thing," Pan said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Pan drove off like the speed demon she was. Undoubtedly that car would be demolished by the time Marron saw it again.

But Bra had bigger things to worry about right now. She slowly walked toward the apartment. It was close to 11:00. Should she even be here? What if he was asleep? She looked at his bedroom window and saw a dim light. It flickered strangely like the light from a television.

Bra took a deep breath and walked over to the window. She didn't want to take the chance of waking up her brother by knocking on the front door. The blinds were closed and she wasn't able to see into the room, so she tapped on the glass.

She watched as the blinds parted and a set of dark eyes stared back at her for a long time. Then they quickly closed again.

Bra frowned and turned away. Maybe he didn't want to see her. Maybe he had someone in the room with him. That was it. Marron said that wasn't going to waste her life waiting for someone who wouldn't give her any signals. Goten had finally decided to do the same. It had only been one day and he had already moved on. This new girl must have been really special. He was already spending the night with her. Bra dubbed herself a fool for believing that letter. That stupid letter that Goten wrote, vowing to wait for her. Now he was seeing someone else...

There was the sound of a window opening behind her and she turned.

"Bra, what are you doing here?" Goten asked, giving her that confused look of his.

Bra couldn't help smiling. It seemed like ages since she'd seen that face. She just stared at him.

Goten raised his eyebrows. "Um, it's pretty dark out there. Why don't you come in?"

Bra still hadn't said anything. How could she? She had mentally accused him of being unfaithful to someone he wasn't even in a relationship with.

"You're as bad with windows as you are with doorways," Goten said jokingly.

She just stood there. She wasn't sure what she should say.

Goten took her hand and pulled her toward the window. "As much as I'd like to believe it, I don't think you came all this way just to see what kind of pajamas I had on."

Bra laughed a little. This was the kind of thing she missed. She missed the familiarity. She missed the goofiness. She missed the sweetness. She missed the discomforting comfort she felt around him, as oxymoronic as it might sound. She missed the feeling she felt in his presence. He was the only person who could make her feel this way. All she really needed was a way to express it.

End All That You Do

Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 3. It ended in a bad spot, I know. But that's just enough to get your taste buds ready for the next episode. Will Bra finally say those 3 magic words? Can Goten and Bra's relationship be salvaged? Is there trouble in the future for the girl who sneaks out while grounded? Stick around to find out.

Thank you for the past reviews and such. You folks are the best. Oh, and I'm still open for suggestions. And just because I don't use them immediately doesn't mean I don't keep them in mind for later or for other stories. So please review.

Comments: My goal here on is to create something original, yet familiar and to entertain. I hope that I am accomplishing those two things well enough. I'm still somewhat new at this. I hope that some of you will be there with me if I decide to explore other genres. (Hint for the future of my career of evil.)


	15. All That You Say

Versus 3: Eclipse

All That You Say

"You know, you really shouldn't be here. You could get into a lot of trouble," Goten reminded Bra. He had that worried look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

There she was, standing in his dimly lit bedroom. He was still holding her hand after pulling her in through the window. She hadn't even said a word yet. She finally cleared her throat. "I got your letter..."

Of course she got his letter. Why wouldn't she? It was on her bed... Bed. What a funny word. When written out in lower-case letters, you could kinda SEE a bed. The tops of the b and d acting as bedposts, while the bottoms of the b and d along with the e acted as the mattress. Weird when you thought about it... What was she thinking! She had to stay focused here.

Goten frowned and finally let go of her hand. "Right. The letter. I just"

"I thought it was really...nice," Bra said quietly. She thought about the things Marron told her. All the great advice Marron gave. If she wanted this to work out, it would take some time. And a lot of thought. She sighed. "But I still want us to be friends. I want us to be close like we always were."

"Yeah. I mean, we'll always be friends no matter what happens," Goten told her.

Good. She had to make sure that they both agreed upon this arrangement. In order for her new dubious plan to work, they would have to be on the same page. She wasn't even really sure what her new plan would be. She just knew that they had to be like they were before they got together.

Bra nodded. "I'm glad." She sat on his bed. "This means I can come over and get in some more rounds of Halo 2."

Goten looked at Bra strangely. He must have known that she wouldn't leave just because it was getting a little late. "Right. I mean, that's fine. But you DO realize that you're grounded, don't you?"

"Of course, I know I'm grounded. I wouldn't be here so late if I weren't," Bra said. "Actually, I wouldn't be here so late if I hadn't gone to that concert..." She thought for a minute. She probably shouldn't have

"Concert? What concert?" Goten asked.

Well, she had already said what she shouldn't have. She may as well tell the rest. "Um, the concert Nick and his band played."

Bra saw something in Goten's eyes change. She couldn't really be sure what it was. Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

"You went to your tutor's band concert?" Goten asked.

Bra nodded. She could swear she detected a hint of jealousy in his tone. Maybe she should play on this emotion for a while. "Then we all went out to eat. That's why I'm so late getting here."

Goten was quiet for a long time. Nothing about his expression changed; he just looked straight ahead.

There she sat. Just like one of those girls she hated so much. The girls who would play head-games with the men they claimed to love. How could she? Bra lowered her head. She really did feel bad about the whole situation, but there was really nothing she could do about it. Unless, of course, she could manage to say those 3 little words that meant so much.

Why did 3 simple words have to mean so much anyway? They were just words.

"So, did you have a good time?" Goten asked, finally taking a seat on the bed next to her.

Bra's heart began to thump out that ever so familiar refrain. She had to keep in mind that they were just friends now. And friends sat and talked about things all the time... "It was great. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect those guys to sound the way they did. I mean, I haven't seen a bassist these days who could lay it down like Wes did. And comboed up with Todd, they had an unstoppable rhythm section. Then you've got frontmen like Hunter and Nick. You wouldn't believe the MUSIC that these four guys produced. They weren't just yelling and banging on their axes. These guys were singing and playing their instruments. They might not be the most musically inclined people you've ever met, but they definitely put everything they had into each song." She was talking a little faster than she'd intended, but it was probably understandable.

Goten fidgeted awkwardly on the bed. "Sounds like you enjoyed the show." He smiled at her. "I guess you plan on going to more of their concerts?"

"Oh, absolutely," Bra said.

"I guess that means you love them?" Goten asked quietly.

"No doubt about it," Bra responded before she even realized what he'd just said. She gasped quietly and looked away. He'd basically backed her into a corner from which she couldn't escape. And she thought she was the one holding all the cards, but he had all the aces all along. She wasn't sure what to say.

"I'm glad you're going out and doing things now," Goten changed the direction of the conversation a bit. "For a long time people thought you would turn into one of those weird old ladies who lived in a house filled with hundreds of cats." He laughed a little.

But she saw through it. It wasn't his usual laugh. There was something behind it. Any normal person would have taken it as a regular laugh, but Bra knew better. She couldn't take this anymore. She had to do something. But what...?

"You know, Goten. What happened between us this morning changed my life," Bra said. "It's made me see things differently. That's why I want us to play a game."

Goten looked confused. "A game? What kind of a game?"

"Question and Answer. It's kinda like Truth or Dare, but without the dares," Bra told him. She turned completely to him with her legs folded under her. "I ask a question and you answer truthfully. Then you ask a question and I answer truthfully. Once one of us answers, the other asks. The limit will be 3 questions each. We can pass on one question, but the person can ask it again at the end if he or she so chooses." She took a deep breath. "How about it?"

Goten thought for a while. Bra could almost hear the gears in his head turning. Then he nodded. "Sounds fair enough. Who's going first?"

Bra held up her fist. Rock, paper, scissors. "Best two out of 3."

Goten held his fist up. "Right."

Bra: scissors. Goten: paper.

Bra: rock. Goten: rock.

Bra: rock. Goten: paper.

Bra: paper. Goten: scissors.

"Looks like I win," Goten said. "Now let me make sure I understand this. I ask a question and you answer, then you ask a question and I answer? Three questions and we can pass on one?"

"That's right," Bra told him. She felt herself break into a sweat. For some reason, she had a feeling this was a bad idea. But maybe it would help ease the tension between them.

"Okay. I guess my first question is: Do you like that Nick guy?" Goten asked slowly.

"Of course, I do. He's a nice guy," Bra answered. She knew that he wasn't asking the question in the way she answered.

Goten gave her a look that told her that he wasn't asking the question in the way she answered.

Bra looked at the ceiling. "I don't like him like, 'I plan on marrying this guy', like him. He's just my tutor... Even though I did think about it a couple of times."

"What!" Goten almost yelled.

"It's not like that," Bra said. "He's just a friend." She leaned her back against the bedpost. "Now it's my turn. And since we're asking about liking people in that way: Do you like Paris as more than a friend?"

Goten laughed. "I don't even like her as a friend. Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not kidding you," Bra said quickly. "Ha! That counts as your second question."

Goten frowned. "No fair. Fine."

Bra smiled. "My turn." What question should she ask? Was there something that had been bothering her lately? Was there something unanswered that she would really like to know? "How did you and Paris get together anyway?" She wasn't sure what her obsession was with Goten and Paris' relationship, but she felt she had to ask.

Goten raised his eyebrows. "I can't believe you're asking me that... But I guess since you asked I should probably answer... One day, back when I first started college, I was walking down the hall and I bumped into this girl. Knocked her down and everything. While I was helping her with her books, I saw that she was taking a history class. So I went and signed up for the class that very same day. I started attending the class and there she was. But instead of me going over to talk to her, she came over and talked to me. That's what happened."

Bra frowned. It was almost like some sick romance story. She hated the idea of it. But obviously their relationship wasn't meant to be or they would still be together now.

"I guess it's my turn to ask a question." He thought for a minute and got very serious. "Do you love me?"

It wasn't a fair question to ask. And it was the last question. Sure, it was a yes or no question, but there had to be rules against this kind of thing. But there was only one answer she could give. "Yes," she replied in a low voice.

"Then why can't you just say it?" Goten asked.

"I don't know! I don't know why I can't say it, okay? But I do. Doesn't that count for anything?" Bra asked. Okay, so he got a chance to ask 4 questions, but she had a feeling the game was over.

End All That You Say

That's it for this episode of Versus 3. It was a bit of a short one, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Comments: It seems that there has been a bit of a role reversal about this whole "I love you" thing. From what I remember, it's usually the guy who has trouble saying this, not the girl. If you've got something to say on this matter, now would be a good time to express it. Rant and rave all you like.

Thanks for the reviews. Keep 'em coming. Let's see what happens next.


	16. All That You Eat

--Alright. I normally don't put comments at the tops of these things, but as you can probably see, this isn't your normal circumstance. I've gone off radar for a long time, I know. But just remember that I said we'd get through this one way or another. I apologize for the wait, but there have been a lot of things going on. I won't go into all the boring details. I've written several chapters since I've disappeared, but I wanted to see some comments between chapters before I just stick all the chapters on here. That and the fact that a lot of them are in "pencil and paper" mode. I'll be a while transferring them to this medium anyway. Thank you for your patient wait. And regardless of how long any of the breaks might be between these chapters, always remember that I try my best to keep my word. So you may not get the end of this til 5 years from now, but the end will be out there as long as there's still breath in my body. And with that said, on with the show!

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Eat--

"Do you love me?" Goten asked.

It wasn't a fair question to ask. And it was his last question. Sure, it only required a yes or no answer, but there had to be rules against this kind of thing. Of course, it was her game, so there really were no rules except the ones she gave in the beginning. She'd kinda set herself up for this one. There was only one answer she could give. "Yes," she replied in a low voice.

"Then why can't you just say it?" Goten asked.

"I don't know! I don't know why I can't say it, okay? But I do. Doesn't that count for anything?" Bra asked. Okay, so he got a chance to ask 4 questions, but she had a feeling the game was over.

Goten looked away. "I wish you would understand where I'm coming from with this. If you don't say something to someone, that person's never gonna know. I mean, they say actions speak louder than words, but..." He sighed. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Bra. When I told you I love you, I meant it. But when I didn't hear it back, I was devastated."

Bra felt her heart slowly shattering. She wanted to do something to comfort him. She wanted to say those words. But there was something keeping her from saying that phrase.

"Of course, I don't want to hear it unless you mean it. I wouldn't want to hear you say it just for the sake of saying it. That would defeat the purpose," Goten continued. "I just wish you'd love me back."

Tears filled Bra's eyes, but she was unable to look away from Goten's bowed head. "Goten, I do. I really do feel that way--"

"Then TELL me you love me, if you do," Goten interrupted, looking up at her.

Bra looked into Goten's eyes. She could see the hurt there. She felt what he felt. She wanted to turn away, but it was impossible. And when she looked even closer at those dark eyes, she could swear she saw tears glazing them ever so lightly. She didn't want to see him like this. This wasn't the Goten she'd grown up with. She'd always known Goten to be a happy sort. This look on him was so very foreign, yet seeing it even once was enough to recognize it. The sad part was that every time she saw that look, she had caused it. She'd hurt people before, but never had she felt this terrible about it.

"I...I...I...want to," Bra said slowly. "But I can't."

Goten leaned back against his headboard. "You can't...," he repeated.

The disappointment she heard in his voice finished ripping her heart apart. It was so silly that her biggest obstacle in life now was saying three little words. And such small words were making her life miserable. No. They weren't just making HER life miserable. They were also making Goten's life miserable. Oh, how she wished she could overcome such a ridiculous setback.

Goten looked at his television and suddenly it looked as though a light came on in his head. "You know, you told me that you couldn't do a lot of things. When I was teaching you to ride your bike, you said you couldn't. When I was teaching you how to fly, you said you couldn't. When I was teaching you how to go Super Saiyan, you said you couldn't. And look at you now. You can do all those things."

In a way he had a point. She had overcome quite a few endeavors in her day. Was this one of those things that would just take a while for her to accomplish? Or was she forever strickened with the inability to spout out those words? Only time would tell...

Bra looked at the floor and sighed.

Goten gently touched Bra's face to make her look at him. "You know, buddy, we're not finished with our game yet. You still have one more question to ask."

Indeed she did. And as she looked at him, she wondered what she should ask. "Why do you put up with me?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand your question," Goten said, looking a bit confused.

"Why do you put up with me?" she repeated. "It seems I cause you more heartache than anything."

"Oh, Bra. Don't forget that we were friends before anything else. Besides, you're a very special person. I want to be with you whether we're in a relationship or not," Goten said. "I mean, you're strong and ambitious. Not to mention you're a great fighter. That's why we're still friends. You just happen to be a pretty and smart and a bit of a delinquent--"

"Delinquent?" Bra asked.

"Well, you ARE here while you're grounded. And it's almost 12:00--" Goten began.

Bra looked at the clock and frowned. "I had no idea it was this late." She stood from her seat on Goten's bed. "Listen, I know you have your mind set on this thing about not being in a relationship. But no matter how many new people I meet or what new experiences I have, I'll always think of you."

Goten smiled. He appeared to be somewhat speechless.

"Besides, since we're back to being friends now, I'll be seeing you all the time anyway," Bra said with a smile of her own.

"I think I can manage that," Goten told her. "I know I can't stop you from doing what you want, but just try not to get into too much trouble, okay?"

"Hey, living with my parents, there's always trouble," Bra commented. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"I miss you already," Goten said.

--End All That You Eat--

--A very short, very nowhere chapter. This series is turning out to be a little more confusing than I'd hoped. How are Goten and Bra ever going to get back together now that they're nothing more than friends?


	17. Everyone You Meet

Versus 3: Eclipse

--Everyone You Meet--

Two weeks can be an eternity. It seemed like forever since she and Goten decided to be 'just friends' and so far it was going relatively well. Relative, that is, to the fact that she wanted to be more than friends with him. But they carried on as they always had.

She would get done with tutoring early, then sneak over to Goten's apartment. There they would play a few video games or just sit and talk. (They dared not spar for fear that her father would hunt them down.) And sometimes they would just sit silently.

Then some nights, she would go to an Eroder show. She never invited Goten to those. For some strange reason every time she talked about their performances, he seemed a little uneasy. But she always had the company of Pan and Marron.

It was amazing to see how well Marron and Wes had hit it off, but soon the inevitable happened. The return of Uubu. Marron had told Bra and Pan the whole story about how Uubu was back for good, but that she couldn't ignore this perfectly good guy she was seeing now. Bra had to wonder why Marron would choose a two-week romance over a lifetime love. Because that was exactly what Marron and Uubu had. Of course, it was an off-and-on kinda love, but they had something special.

Pan seemed to be the only one without that special someone in her life. That must have been what kept her in such a good mood. Not having to worry about her relationship with some guy. She always seemed so carefree and she was always cheerful. Bra began to believe that 'twas better never loved at all than to have loved and lost. The only thing Pan seemed interested in was the new gravity machine that Bra had built.

The gravitron had taken Bra over a week to complete between school, concerts and sneaking out to see Goten under her mother's nose. But she'd finally gotten the machine up and running. It gave Bra a very good place to work off her frustrations. And if it hadn't been for her father's regeneration tank, she never would have made it out of the house after she trained.

Pan could feel the difference in Bra's strength over the past couple of days and insisted on knowing how she got so strong. Bra finally broke down and told her about the gravitron she'd built using her grandfather's old blue-prints combined with her mother's upgrade plans. Pan seemed impressed. She wanted to train in it herself sometime.

Surprisingly the only other person who knew about Bra's gravitron was Goten because she'd told him about it. But he told her that her increases in strength were definitely noticeable and that her father had to know what was going on, seeing how he had one of his own.

Nick, on the other hand, noticed nothing. Of course, being a regular human, she never expected him to notice a change in her power. He did, however, notice a change in her study habits. Thanks to him, she was paying more attention during tutoring than she had been before. That was a miracle. How had he managed to do something no one else seemed to be capable of? Simple enough really, yet Bra never knew it was happening until it was too late.

Eroder had started playing new songs at their shows with stranger lyrics than usual. The songs were about certain points in history. It was an ingenius plan really because Nick knew that the only thing that seemed to get through to Bra was music. When had the band come up with the new songs in such a short time?

Either way, the little scheme worked and Bra was learning things that she'd never known or cared to know about history. And some of it was actually pretty interesting. Goten had been right all along. Learning about the wars was a lot like their martial arts lifestyle. The only hard part was learning to sort through the names and dates. With Eroder's songs, that part became simple.

And now life seemed to be getting on track again for Bra. She was actually learning things about history and enjoying some of it in the process. She was still close to Goten. Her training was going well. And her mother hadn't been giving her grief lately.

"The only thing that would make my life better now is if I could get things together with...you-know-who," Bra said to Pan as they sat in the hall outside of their first class.

It was early on the morning of the second history test of the year. Pan was sitting on the floor with her face buried in her history book, while Bra just sat with her back against the lockers. She looked at her friend and frowned.

Pan undoubtedly felt the pair of eyes on her and she looked over at Bra. "You seem pretty mellow about this whole test thing. My mom and dad are expecting a much better grade this time. I know your mom's in a frenzy about it."

Bra nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not worried. I'm gonna pass this time. Maybe even get an A."

Pan looked a little surprised. "After the devastation we both suffered on the first test, how could you be so confident?"

"I know a lot more than I did back then," Bra told her simply.

"Boy, Nick Carnage must be one great tutor, if you're this confident about a history test," Pan said. She smiled. "Can I have him next?"

Bra laughed. "No, I think I'm stuck with him at least until the end of the year."

"I don't like this. You're a little too happy. That's MY job, remember? You're the constantly depressed anti-social basket-case," Pan said.

Bra frowned. "Well, you can still be the social one and you can be as happy as you want. I just feel really good about this test, that's all."

"Yeah, you said that last time and we saw where that got you," Pan reminded her.

"You're right about that. But everything's different this time. Everything is in harmony," Bra replied. She sighed. "Well, almost everything..."

Pan shoved her book into her bookbag. "Back to the Goten thing--"

"Shhhhhhh! What? Do you want the whole school to know?" Bra hissed.

"Sorry!" Pan whispered. "Anyway, I know my uncle. He's crazy about you, but he wants what's best for you. Besides, you'll probably be able to wait him out till he gives in. This little stalemate won't last long."

"It's been two whole weeks," Bra said. "I don't know how much longer I can go on with this 'just being friends' thing."

Pan grinned. "Well, if you're ready to move things along, then put him under a little pressure."

"How so?" Bra asked. This was interesting.

"Well, I'm not saying that you should jump into the sac with him," Pan said. She thought for a minute. "Although..." She shook her head. "No. Anyway, you could use your womanly charms in other ways."

"I don't have womanly charms," Bra told her. "Besides, I've tried everything... Almost everything..."

"You probably don't even flirt with the guy like you're supposed to," Pan commented.

"We're friends now, remember?" Bra said. "Friends don't flirt."

"Not on purpose. But if you accidentally flirted with him and showed him that you can be a lady while still playing the tough-girl role, you might be able to get through to him," Pan explained.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Bra questioned.

"Hey, don't ask me. You're the one who wants him. You have to be willing to put in a little work for what you want," Pan told her. She smirked.

As soon as she said that, Goten came walking down the hall. "Goooooood morning, ladies. Hope you're ready for the big test today."

Bra was about to start talking, but Pan interrupted. "I'll be ready as soon as I take a trip to the little girls' room." She gave Bra a look, then hurried away.

Goten smiled at Bra, then went on unlocking the classroom door.

Bra stood and walked into the quiet classroom, taking her usual seat. It was nice to get to school early. The halls were quiet. There were no crowds around to interfer with the pleasant silence that surrounded them for at least another 15 minutes. It was magic hour. There was no longer a red-haired nuissance to get in her way during this perfect time alone with Goten. That counselor had transferred over a week ago. And good riddance, as far as Bra was concerned.

"So, this is where we see if your new tutor came in handy," Goten said. "You haven't really talked about Mr. Carnage's tutoring much. Has it been going okay?"

"Let's just say I've really got a handle on things this time," Bra answered.

Goten raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I sure hope so. I can't help feeling your power. I really hope we can get back to sparring soon. I want to see how much you've improved."

Bra smirked. "I can't guarantee it won't be the last thing you ever see." Ah. She was getting her old flare back now. Just the thought of putting her new found power up against Goten's thrilled her. After she passed this test she could just take it home to her mother and she would have to give her permission to at least fight someone again. It had been such a long time since she'd had a decent sparring partner. She could have easily sparred with her father, but she didn't want to do that until she'd tested her new strength. Then when she was sure that she was strong enough, she'd challenge her father to a rematch. She'd show him. But first she had a score to settle with this one.

"We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Goten said. He went into his briefcase and started thumbing through some papers.

Yeah, she had everything under control here.

Pan entered the room, followed by some other students. She looked at both Goten and Bra, frowned and walked over to her seat. "What is this? I left so you could flirt. What do you call this? Cause I know it ain't flirting."

Bra shushed Pan. "You know he might hear us. Just leave this to me."

"Whatever. You're never gonna get what you want like that," Pan said.

Bra ignored her. She'd learned to do that with this one. Pan tended to get annoying when she said more than 5 or 6 sentences during the course of a day.

And so the rest of the class entered and soon it was test time...

--End Everyone You Meet--

--Hello again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Versus 3. I know it was mostly yammering, and I know that was a huge jump in time and I know things are moving a little faster than they should, but I felt it was the right thing to do. Some of you may disagree. If so, let me know.

--As always, thanks for being there throughout these times. I know it's been hard to put up with my "troubles", but I hope that doesn't change your feelings toward the story. See ya next time.


	18. All That You Slight

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That You Slight--

It would have been the test to end all tests if Bra hadn't become a master of that territory. In the past it was atrocious how little she knew about the subject, but now she was a bona fide genius in every category of study known to man. There was nothing she couldn't tackle. She could overcome all odds. Her power rating in every aspect of her life had sky-rocketed to unphathomable heights. Every domain of existence was now within her hands...

"So, Bra. What do you plan on doing about your would-be boyfriend?" Pan asked from what seemed to be a great distance.

Now, why did she have to bring that up? Bra was rolling around in her own success like a pig in mud, and along came the spider that was Pan with her poison bite.

"I'll deal with that in my own time," Bra said confidently. She honestly had no idea what to do about the situation with Goten. They were still 'just friends'. Sure, she should be happy that the man is even willing to be around her after what she'd done to him, but her life felt incomplete as things stood presently. Even with her new knowledge of history and the inevitability of improved grades, there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel for her. There was only the never-ending tunnel of educational success and life-love loss.

"Your own time may be too late," Pan told her.

This girl thought she was so smart. She should just mind her own business. Pan didn't even HAVE a boyfriend, yet she felt the need to give Bra advice on relationships.

Bra just gave her a tired look.

"I really want to see you two together. I want to see my best friend happy and I want to see my uncle happy," Pan stated.

Bra looked around. "Shhhhhh! We can talk about this later. I don't want the entire student body to find out about this. We've worked really hard to keep this from everyone in the school," she whispered.

"Fine. We can talk after school. And we have a lot to talk about," Pan said.

--lunch time--

Bra was wandering through the hall with her eyes on her cd player. She was listening to Blue Oyster Cult's song 'Feel the Thunder'. The haunting feel of the music along with the nightmarish lyrics always sent a chill down her spine. Of course, the majority of BOC's lyrics were nightmarish in a way. They always told the kinds of stories that plagued your sleep. Not to mention their talent with the instruments were highly under-rated. Music magazines often overlooked this absolutely phenominal band and wrote them off as just another Black Sabbath. Their lack of respect for this band was enough to make anyone physically ill.

As Bra contemplated sending massive amounts of letters to these so called rock experts concerning that very matter, she heard someone call to her.

"Hi, Bra," Goten called. He walked up to her. "Do you ever eat lunch?"

Bra stopped and looked up at him. "Lunch...?" She'd said it like it was a foreign concept to her. "Of course, I eat lunch. When I have time, that is." She smiled at him.

Goten smiled back.

That smile always made her feel something that not even music could make her feel.

"Well, I was gonna pick up something to eat," Goten told her. "Wanna come with me?"

"Yeah," she answered almost too quickly. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They started back down the hall and out of the school. "I've got some really good news for you," Goten began. His smiled broadened.

Bra looked at him. She hoped that he had decided to be with her again. But as she'd learned from past experiences, she had to wait and see what this good bit of news was.

"I graded the tests from this morning. You got a 97," Goten said. "I was really impressed." He looked at her. "But it makes me wonder where I went wrong. Why was your new tutor able to help you when I couldn't?" Goten asked as they got into his capsule car.

Nick's new method of teaching had paid off. She couldn't believe she had been tricked into actually learning the stuff, but if it worked, she shouldn't complain.

"Well," Bra began. "I didn't want to tell anyone, but there's really no reason to hide it." She sighed. "Nick wrote songs about history and played them at his shows. Before I realized what was going on, Eroder had already taught me most of what I needed to know..." It was a little embarrassing for her, but she may as well have told him outright that she was tricked into learning it.

Goten started driving. "Really? So, he taught you through music. That was...smart." He cleared his throat. "So, what do you want to eat?"

What an interesting atmosphere. Bra watched Goten out of the corner of her eye the whole time. Then she shrugged. "I didn't really have anything in mind." The only thing that was really on her mind at the time was how she could get Goten back. And it was little moments like these that she should use to work on it. But how?

"Well, I was thinking pizza," Goten said. He grinned. "Yeah. Pepperoni and red peppers."

As Goten's stomach made a loud sound, Bra's made one too. She blushed. "Oh, boy. I guess I'm hungrier than I thought," she told him with a laugh.

"I guess we both are," Goten laughed as well.

They ordered some different types of pizzas, then headed back to his classroom.

Once they started eating, Bra decided to break the silence. "Well... I never realized how long lunch time was." She laughed nervously. Why was she so uncomfortable all of a sudden?

Goten nodded, his mouth stuffed with pizza.

When Bra looked at him, she couldn't help laughing out loud. "How in the world did you get sauce around your eyes? We just started eating." She reached over and wiped the sauce from the side of his face.

Goten just watched her and swallowed everything in his mouth.

There was a long silence.

Bra kept her hand on Goten's face and studied the way he was looking at her. She wasn't sure how to react. All she knew was that there was a shared feeling there. So it was up to her to do something about it.

She slowly placed her other hand on the other side of his face and looked into his eyes. She was determined to show him one way or another that she wanted their relationship to be something more.

Goten looked away. "Bra, we shouldn't." He put his hand around one of her wrists.

What? Who was piloting this ship anyway? She thought she was the one in control. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. She had to be tactical. She'd learned a little something about war and its politics. There had to be a way to use it to get what she wanted in her life.

Bra smiled. "You should be more careful with your pizza." The confused look on Goten's face made her curious as to what he really wanted to happen. But she removed her hands from his face and hoped that she had made a good rebound from that last attempt. Her plan now was to withdraw from this battle and try again when they were in a more private setting. School had proven to be bad news no matter which way you sliced it...

And speaking of slices...

--after school--

Pan and Bra had gone to Goten's classroom in order to get their tests so that they could take them home to be signed. Once again, they were the last to arrive.

"Mmmmmm, smells like pizza in here," Pan said.

"Still?" Goten asked.

Pan looked at Goten and frowned. "I can't believe you had pizza without me. Some uncle you are. I was stuck eating cafeteria food. Bleeeeh!"

Bra laughed under her breath.

Goten looked at the ceiling. "I don't think you're here to give me a lecture. You're here for your test, right?" He held a folded test in each hand.

Pan took the one he held toward her and looked at it for a long time. She smiled.

"I'm very proud of you, Pan. You really improved," Goten told her.

"Wow. I got an 82. That's a B," Pan sang. She looked at Bra. "How'd you do this time?"

Bra took her test from Goten and looked at it. Sure, she already knew what her grade was, but seeing it written in pen made it believable. She looked at Pan. "I got a 97," she replied nonchalantly.

Pan looked surprised. "No way! This is great! Your mom'll HAVE to let you off punishment now."

Goten smiled at Bra. "And then we can get back to sparring."

Bra nodded to him.

Yeah. All was well that ended well in the educational spectrum. Bra had conquered the unconquerable domain that was history. Now she only had one more fall to climb.

--End All That You Slight--

--Hey there. That was another episode of Versus 3. Thanks for reading it. And let me know what you think.

--You people have been giving me all kinds of compliments. I truly thank you for that. I try to make it interesting and understandable. You seem to like a lot of it, but if you ever run across something you're not sure of or something you don't like, let me know. As always, thanks for the reviews. And I'll see you next time.


	19. Everyone You Fight

Versus 3: Eclipse

--Everyone You Fight--

"I still can't believe you almost got a perfect score on that test," Pan said as they exited the school building. "That's a real improvement over the last grade you got. Your mom's gonna be so happy that she'll MAKE you go out this weekend."

Bra frowned. She looked forward to being given permission to go out again, but it really wasn't worth it if she couldn't have Goten. She sighed.

Pan looked at her friend. "What's going on with you? This should be the happiest day of your life, and you're moping... It's about Goten, isn't it?"

Stupid Pan. Thinking she knew everything. Bra would show her. "That's not why I'm 'moping'. It's just that I'll have a whole free weekend now, but there's only one Eroder concert," Bra lied.

"Bra, you're so full of it. I can see right through you," Pan told her. "You must have forgotten who you were talking to."

Oh, great. Now she really thought she knew everything. And her stupid rhyme talk wasn't helping the matter.

"You can believe what you want," Bra said. "I'm going home so I can get my 'pardon'." Before Pan could say anything else, she took off toward Capsule Corp.

A good thing had come of the day. She had made a near-perfect score on her history test. That would result in the restoration of her freedom. But what of her relationship with Goten? Would she be cursed with remaining only friends with him? Or was there a way for them to become more?

She landed at Capsule Corp. and sighed. In a way, this little victory brought nothing for her. Well, except being able to spar with Goten again. But there was no sense in mourning her loss now. She had caused this little break-up by being too young. If she were older, this tragedy would never have befallen her.

Ha! That was even sillier thinking than before. She couldn't do anything about how old she was. Well, she could, but it wouldn't matter much in the end. Because as Goten said, while age was a factor in all of this, it was her lack of life experience that mattered most.

Bra threw her bookbag by the door and folded her arms across her chest. So, how could she attain this prerequisite of life experience he so wanted her to have in order for them to be together?

"Bra, honey, are you okay?" Bulma asked.

Her mother had been sitting on the sofa when she came in, yet Bra hadn't even noticed her until she spoke just now.

"I'm fine," Bra lied. She wasn't fine. If she were she would be in a better mood today, especially considering the recent passing of her history test. She would just have to fake it. So she smiled and held up the paper that had been in her hand since she left school. "Here it is. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." She walked over to Bulma and handed the folded piece of paper to her.

"Is that your history test?" Bulma asked before opening it.

Bra gave no answer.

When Bulma unfolded the papers, her eyes grew wide and she gasped. "Oh, Bra. This is wonderful." She sprang to her feet and gave Bra a hug.

Bra just looked at the ceiling.

"A 97. I knew you could do it. You'll have an A average in that class before you know it," Bulma prattled on. "I'm gonna hang this on the fridge." She was about to trot into the kitchen.

"Wait," Bra called to her mother.

Bulma turned to her.

"Does this mean I'm no longer under house arrest?" Bra questioned.

Bulma smiled. "Of course, honey. But I still expect you to continue with your studies. One test grade isn't gonna let you completely off the hook, you know. So, yes, until further notice, your punishment is off." She headed to the kitchen.

Bra was satisfied. That was really all she needed to know. She could deal with her studies. All she really needed was her freedom. Well, that wasn't all she really needed, but it was a start...

--soon--

She would be able to fight again soon. It was about time too, for she wanted to see if her training had paid off. And as soon as she tested her new strength, she would be able to tell how far she needed to push herself before she challenged her father to a rematch.

Why would she want a rematch against her father? She knew he was one of the strongest fighters in the universe. Maybe it was because she knew he hadn't taken her seriously during their last spat. She wanted to be taken seriously as a fighter. And even though she had proven herself in many sparring matches, it was her father she wanted to impress most of all.

Of course, impressing Goten was definitely a good thing.

Bra knocked on the door of Trunks and Goten's apartment.

Surprisingly, Trunks answered the door. "Ah, little sister. It's you. I should have known," he said, standing in the doorway.

Bra gave her brother a smug look. "Big brother. I haven't seen you in a while. Outta my way." She pushed past him. "Why are you home so early on a Friday?"

"What? Were you expecting to be home alone with Goten?" Trunks asked, closing the door.

"No," Bra said, blushing a little.

"Oh, that's right," Trunks said. "You two aren't an item anymore. Sorry."

Bra rolled her eyes. "We haven't been together for two weeks, you lug nut!"

Trunks shrugged. "I'm not gonna waste my time trying to figure out what goes on in your life from day to day." He laughed to himself.

She should have blasted him right out of the stratosphere. Her brother was the biggest jerk on the face of the entire planet. Aside from Pan, of course. Pan held the record for being the biggest jerk on the face of the entire planet.

As soon as Bra was about to make a snide remark to her brother, Goten came out of his bedroom. "Oh, hey Bra," he said.

Bra squinted her eyes at Trunks, then looked at Goten with a smile.

"I see your mom set you free," Goten commented.

"That's right. And now I've come to show you the results of my training," Bra warned.

"Yeah, right," Trunks interrupted. "You might be a little stronger than you used to be, but I doubt you've improved that much."

Her brother was really killing her coolness here.

"You're free to take me on, if you think you can," Bra told him. Maybe that was enough of a recovery.

"Wow, you're really agressive today," Goten said, smiling wider. "Fiery."

She loved to hear him make those kinds of statements about her. She didn't looked at Goten. She only smirked confidently at her brother. "We should get started," she said to Goten, never taking her eyes off her brother.

She couldn't tell whether Trunks was intimidated by the statement or not. She didn't really care either.

Goten quickly changed into his usual training gear and came back into the living room. "Hey, Trunks. I remember you saying that you wanted to train with us some time. How about now? It would probably take two of us to take Bra on."

"Not after only one week of gravity training," Trunks commented. He shook his head. "I don't think so. I'll pass this time. I've got a busy weekend ahead. I've gotta work Saturday AND Sunday. That's why I went ahead and left at a sane time today." He frowned. "You guys have fun, though."

"You're never gonna have a chance to spar with us if they keep working you like that," Goten said. He opened the door for Bra. "See ya later," he called back to Trunks.

Bra waved to her brother. She did kinda feel bad for him. He worked all the time. She was always so involved in her own problems that she never really acknowledged the fact that her brother was well on his way to working himself to death. Which had to mean that he didn't have much of a life outside of work. Poor Trunks.

--wasteland--

Bra silently watched Goten stretch and he watched her the same way. It was a little awkward how they openly watched each other like this. Now how would they be able to fight with this kind of tension between them? Well, she wasn't too sure about the tension on his end, but she sure was under a lot of pressure from just being with him.

In any case, she would have to put her feelings aside for this one. This was a serious sparring match. So if he would not get things started, then she would. She powered up to Super Saiyan 2 and smirked at Goten.

Goten powered up as well. "It's time to see how far you've come."

She compared their powers. His was still a little higher than hers somehow. Had he been training as well? Or had he been holding back during all their other sparring matches? Just entertaining such a thought made her angry. She remembered how far their powers were apart when they fought the other times. His was always pretty much equal to hers. She'd always asked him not to hold back and now it seemed that he always had. Who knows? He was probably holding back even now. Bra ground her teeth. She would have to give him a reason to go all out.

She began to see red...

--End Everyone You Fight--

--Here I am again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a little weird. Well, I just don't know quite what to think anymore. So tell me what YOU think. Please review.

--Thanks again for your interest in this story. We've still got a ways to go before we reach the end of this baby.


	20. All That Is Now

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That Is Now--

Of course, she had no intention of hurting him the way she had weeks ago. All those days ago when she wouldn't--nay, when she COULDN'T tell him that she loved him. But now he suffered from physical pain as well. The bad part was that she couldn't remember exactly how this had happened.

Bra stood over Goten. He was bleeding, battered and burned as he lay in a huge crater, apparently unconscious. And of course it only made sense that that crater had been created by her. What had she done? What attack had she unleashed to birth this gaping hole that they were both in now?

Her head began to hurt. She remembered being upset with him. Something about not having him spar at full power with her. That was it. It really wasn't fair. She'd always thought she stood a chance against him. She'd always put everything she had into their sparring matches. And what had she gotten in return? The insult of her opponent holding back. Even when he said he wouldn't. Even when she'd always asked him not to. There was no recovering from that. There was no excuse for him to have done this to her. It hurt her pride more than anything. Just when she was so certain she had become strong enough, he was even stronger still.

...And yet he lay in this crater unconscious. That could have easily been a stroke of luck on her part. But she may never know.

She should just leave him here. He was obviously strong enough to withstand any attack she could possibly dish out. She WOULD leave him. Yes. That would teach him not to hold back on her. Besides, leaving was something her father would have done.

She powered up and shot off quickly over the trees. She could hear them whipping wildly in her wake. Guilt rapidly began to eat at her heart. She almost couldn't believe she'd left him there in that condition. Anything could happen to him out there.

No! She could not bring herself to worry about him. That would be a sign of weakness. And she was not weak. She was Bra. Daughter of the great Vegeta.

She looked at her clothes. Aside from a few scratches, some dirt and a few burns, she was fine. Except for the fact that now, for some reason, she felt very strange. Her insides felt empty. But she decided to ignore it. The feeling would pass in time.

She landed back at home and took a deep breath. When she went inside she saw that neither her mother nor her father was around. It was for the best.

She was about to quickly make her way to her room, when she ran into Nick.

"Whoa! What's the hurry?" Nick asked. He smiled ever so warmly at her. "Your mom told me what a great job you did on your history test. I'm really happy for you."

Bra sighed. She had no time for this now. There was too much on her mind. She didn't care about history. She didn't care about how happy he was for her. She just wanted to be left alone.

So she pushed past him and headed toward her bedroom. The last thing she heard before she slammed her door was Nick's final inquiry: "Bra, what's wrong?"

She leaned against the door and frowned, immediately feeling guilty about the way she'd treated Nick. Just because she was suffering from inner turmoil didn't mean she had the right to treat poor Nick that way. She could have at least attempted to be kind for once. He'd done nothing to deserve such treatment.

But guilt hadn't been enough to make her go back to check on Goten, and it surely wasn't enough to make her go out and apologize to Nick.

The feeling, the emptiness she'd felt before had not yet passed. She looked around her room with a blank stare. Bathing would help her get her mind back together. She should do that first.

Bra ran a hot bath, put some salts in it and got in. The water might have scalded a normal person, but she wasn't worried. The hot water would help her relax...

Goten punched Bra in the abs forcefully, knocking the wind right out of her. And she staggered in mid air for a split second. Then she phased behind him and tried to kick him in the back. But before her attack could land, he phased behind her, clasped his hands together and was about to send her plummeting toward the ground. Bra phased out of sight, but reappeared in front of him, still facing him.

"This is getting old," she said as she punched him square in the chest. She did a front flip and came down on his shoulder with her heel.

It had obviously been unexpected. He was stunned for a moment, but before she could move her foot out of the way, he grabbed it.

"You really outsmarted me that time," Goten said. "But don't plan on something like that happening again. He let go of her foot and kicked her off to the side, sending her flying off into the distance.

Her attacks didn't really seem to be effecting him. Even when she put all her strength into a move, she saw no benefit. There was little break in his defense. He was getting slippery hits in on her. It was like she was stuck inside a plastic bag with no way out. As a matter of fact, she was beginning to feel clastrophobic even now. What could she do to get out of the situation in which she found herself?

Once she steadied herself from Goten's last attack, he was right on top of her again with a barrage of rapid kicks and punches. She tried her best to dodge the attacks, but blocking them became more convenient. She growled and forced breaks in his attacks by knocking his punches and kicks out of the way as she blocked. She sent one of his arms off to the side one time and powered up for not even a nanosecond. Then she finally started delivering some kicks and punches of her own. Kicks were coming much faster than she'd rememebered being able to kick. Her punches were swifter and harder than she'd ever thought they could be.

As she began turning the tide in her favor, Goten began trying to dodge the attacks. But for every dodge, Bra had a counter offensive. Every time he got out of the way of one punch, another followed it up. For every kick he dodged, he paid by taking two knees.

She could feel her own power steadily rising. It was a strange feeling. It felt as if she were sucking the life energy straight out of Goten. Every time she landed a kick or a punch his power seemd to go down and hers seemed to surge.

Goten stopped dodging altogether and tried blocking instead. But this just made things worse for him. She began pummeling him. She couldn't be sure if she had possession of her body anymore. She felt like a spectator in all of this. She couldn't seem to stop herself. She could see the damage she was doing, but something wouldn't allow her to cease her attacks.

The last thing she heard before she lost herself completely was her own voice say: "Suffer until your life hangs in the balance."

Bra's eyes popped open and she almost screamed. Was it all a dream? Or had she relived parts of that fight?

From the feeling she was getting, she had a pretty good idea that this was not just some dream.

--End All That is Now--

--Short episode. Yes indeed. And a strange episode at that. And since this episode was so short and strange, you get to have it early, free of charge. It may have a bunch of errors in it, but I didn't really have time to go through and nit-pick. Hopefully I'll be able to get the remaining 4 chapters out soon. Thanks for reading it. Let me know what you think. Please review.

--Here Bra goes again with the inability to control herself. And how could she have left Goten like that? That's so unlike her... Yeah... Yeah, that's so unlike her.

--Thanks so much for your reviews. They really mean a lot to me. Keep them coming.


	21. All That Is Gone

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That Is Gone--

She lay in the lukewarm water that used to be her bath and stared at the ceiling. That couldn't have been what happened. Not that nightmare of a memory she'd just had. Maybe she'd over-exaggerated the whole occurance. Had she really said that to him? Had she really told him that he would suffer until his life hang in the balance?

Even with that memory, she couldn't be sure what exactly had happened to him. Was he alright? Or had she truly left him near death?

Suddenly she jumped out of the water. It wasn't until she'd tried to get out of the tub that she realized how sore her muscles were. She grunted from the pain of trying to move. Maybe she'd overdone it today. Maybe she should have spent a little time in her dad's regen tank.

She quickly dried off and got dressed. She had to see if Goten was okay. She wouldn't know what to do if he went shuffling out of life just to hide in death a while. Her heart raced as she wondered what had become of her poor injured Goten. She never should have left him down in a hole. She should have brought him home with her. She should have put HIM in her father's regen tank until his wounds healed.

It seemed guilt would win out in the end afterall.

The phone in her bedroom rang, startling Bra to no end. Had her mother already taken the security lock off her phone? She must have been really excited about that test score.

But Bra didn't move. Scared stiff really. Even if she could at the time, she wasn't sure if she should. She only waited to hear what the answering machine had to say. She waited to see if somehow Goten had made his way back to his apartment and decided to give her a call.

"Bra, I swear if you're not at home, I'm going to gut you like a trout the next time I see you! Pick up the phone! This is important!" she heard Pan's voice say through the machine. She paused for a long time before she went on. "Well, I guess you're not at home. Whenever you do get back, give me a call, okay? It's really important--"

"Hello. Pan?" Bra answered. She knew it was news about Goten. It had to be.

"Oh. You're home. What took you so long?" Pan asked.

Bra took a deep breath and sat on her bed. "I... It's a long story."

"Everything with you is either a long story or you don't want to talk about it," Pan said. "That's no big surprise." She changed the subject. "I know you and Uncle Goten sparred today. I'm guessing that you won."

Oh no. Pan must have been the one who found Goten laying there in the middle of nowhere with unattended injuries.

Pan continued. "I mean, I felt his power go up for a long time, but then it suddenly started falling. And yours. I really don't know what to say about it. It fluctuated dramatically all afternoon."

What? Was that all she had to say? No, 'Bra, how could you leave my uncle out there like that'? No, 'Bra, you had no right to do what you did to my uncle'? Pan would have been pretty upset if she'd known what Bra had done to Goten.

So, Bra decided she should take over this conversation before things go out of hand. "My training really paid off," was all she said about it. "So, why'd you call?" She felt bad that she didn't explain what had happened. Or the fact that Goten was hurt. Or the fact that her uncle was quite possibly still lying out there somewhere with injuries she hadn't even bothered to study.

"Oh!" Pan chirped. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Pan's mind was obviously too preoccupied with whatever she had to tell her to worry about her uncle's well-being.

"Marron and I kinda had this double date thing in mind for tonight," Pan started. "But then we thought that since you're most likely off punishment, you'd like to come too."

"Double date?" Bra asked. She didn't have time for this. There were more important things for her to worry about right now. She just couldn't let Pan know that she was worried about something. She had to keep a cool head until she was done with her. And then she could move on to more pressing matters. Like hopefully saving Goten's life.

"Yeah. A double date. Well, we're making it a triple date. You can't say no. I'll come over personally and drag you out," Pan stated. "And you and your date will have a great time. I'll make you have fun."

Pan was threatening her! Again!

"It's gonna be Marron and Wes. Marron talked me into seeing Hunter. Maybe you and Goten could come along," Pan continued.

Goten... What had become of him...?

"It'd be a good chance to spark that relationship that you can't seem to get together," Pan went on saying. "What do you think?"

Bra ground her teeth. All this worrying was sure to kill her. "I don't think so. I mean, Goten and I are friends. If I ask him to go on this triple date, well..." She thought for a while. There had to be some kind of way to get out of this whole Goten thing. She couldn't even be sure whether the man was dead or alive, let alone whether he'd accompany her on a double date. "Why don't I bring Nick instead? I mean, two of his friends will already be there."

Pan squealed with delight, causing Bra to nearly drop the phone. "That's a great idea! We can talk about band stuff. It'll be great. I mean, their gig is tomorrow night. We may even have a chance to make some requests. Bra, you really are a genius."

Was she really?

"It's settled, then. Since we have three couples, we can take the band van now. How much better could things go?" Pan asked. "I'll get Marron to call Wes and tell him to bring the van. We'll pick you guys up in an hour."

Pan didn't even wait for a comment or objection. She just hung up the phone.

Little did Pan know, Bra had several problems: 1) She didn't want to go out; 2) Nick just might turn her down because of the way she'd treated him earlier; and 3) the person she was really interested in seeing right now most likely lay stretched out in a coma-like state in the middle of nowhere. The last of which was the biggest problem of all. How could she correct the errors that had been made?

She had one hour in which to solve these problems. She really didn't care about the whole date thing. That was the least of her worries now. Currently what bugged her the most was Goten's well-being.

Or, then again. Maybe she should ask Nick about this triple date. Asking someone out at the last minute was probably not a sign of good etiquette.

Oh, everything was happening too fast! She needed time to think!

She groaned and stared at the floor. She had to think logically. She had to think CHRONOlogically. Considering the circumstances, what would be the best thing to take care of first? That was the question. NOT: which one did she care most about? Her head felt like it was spinning an all directions at once.

She had to breathe.

She had everything under control.

Just breathe. Calm down.

Bra closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Then she opened her eyes again. She felt a little less stressed out and a little more clear headed now.

The first thing she had to take care of was making sure no one found out that she was under any kind of stress. She couldn't let everyone around her know that something was wrong. And that was why she was going on the triple date. So first, she had to talk to Nick.

The second item on her to-do list would be finding Goten. Making sure he was okay. If she went out there and found him still lying there, she'd have to be very crafty about the way she would get him back to the regeneration tank. If he wasn't still there...well, she'd just have to search for him. First at his apartment. Then at the Sons'. And lastly at the hospital.

Everything that would happen after that would be determined once she took care of the first two. And she had under an hour now to do it.

She slowly headed toward the guest room in which Nick was staying. She stood before it and frowned. Misdirected dating had to be one of her biggest faults. Every time her relationship with Goten wasn't working out, she turned to some poor, innocent, unsuspecting guy. Randall, who she'd taken to Marron's fashion show, was an innocent bystander. And now Nick was another innocent in all of this.

She knocked on the door. This had to be one of the dumbest ideas she'd ever had...

Now where could he be? Bra made her way to the kitchen and spotted Nick sitting at the table. Unfortunately, her mother was seated with him, chatting away as she so often did.

No...

Bra just stood in the shadow of the hallway for a while trying to figure out what she should do.

Bulma was tinkering with her latest device as she spoke to Nick. "I know you have a life outside of just tutoring my daughter. I mean, you're a nice, handsome young man. I want you to feel free to bring your girlfriend over anytime you'd like. You don't always have to go out and see her."

Girlfriend? Well, this was a very convenient conversation for them to be having. This was something Bra needed to know about before she asked Nick about this triple date thing. Now that she knew he had a girlfriend, this would make things a little more complicated.

Nick smiled at Bulma. "Actually, Mrs.--"

Bulma smiled back at him. "Please, call me Bulma."

"Bulma it is, then. It's really flattering to hear you say those things, but actually, I don't have a girlfriend," Nick said. "It's really kind of you to open your home to me in such a way, though."

Oh...? No girlfriend...? Maybe Bra had come in on the very beginning of the conversation.

Bulma looked at her little machine. "I see. Well, why wouldn't someone like you have a girlfriend?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm picky. Maybe girls are picky," Nick told her.

This was so embarrassing. Why would her mother ask all these questions? There was no time to waste here. Bra had to find Goten before Pan and Marron came over looking for her.

Bulma's little machine beeped twice. She looked at it, then looked back up at Nick. "There's something more to what you're saying. What kinds of girls do you usually find yourself attracted to?"

Bra wanted to scream. She wanted to interrupt them, but there was something very interesting going on here. What was this aparatus her mother had on the table? And why was it that when it beeped, her mother seemed to become even more curious.

Nick frowned a little. "Mrs.--I mean, Bulma. I don't feel very comfortable talking to you about things like this."

"Come now, Mr. Carnage. It's just an innocent question," Bulma asked with a smile.

Nick sighed.

He was really going to answer this question, wasn't he? He wasn't obligated to do so. Why would he answer her?

"Everybody likes pretty women," Nick began. "That goes without saying, really. But I'm really attracted to a woman who is smart. Not necessarily a scholar, but someone who has her own train of thought. Someone with a dominant presence. Someone who's persistant. Someone who's not perfect and doesn't WANT to be. Someone who has something to say, but isn't just constantly saying something just for the sake of speaking. Someone who's not afraid to say what's on her mind." He put his head down a little.

Bra looked a little confused. Hearing these kinds of things from a man's point of view could prove to be most useful.

The little machine Bulma had beeped twice again. "And?" Bulma asked.

Why was her mother hounding this poor young man?

Nick shook his head. "It's so inappropriate. But you and I have grown close over these past few weeks. I feel like I should be able to tell you anything..."

Bra's eyes got huge. There was no way this was leading to where she thought it might be leading. She looked at her mother.

Bulma looked surprised. "Nick, I..."

"I know. I know it can never be. But I have to tell you that I find myself attracted to you, Bulma," Nick said. "You're everything I've ever dreamed of."

Now that WAS inappropriate. How did Bra NOT see this? How did she completely miss the fact that her tutor was attracted to her mother? His employer? The Prince's wife?

Bulma stared at Nick for a long time, still flabbergasted.

"Please, don't take it the wrong way. I would never--" Nick began.

"Shh!" Bulma looked around. "Listen, you can never mention this again. If my husband were to find out, you'd be a dead man. Let us never bring this up again. Ever." She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just wanted to... I want to see everyone around me happy. But I think I just made your life a whole lot worse."

Bra couldn't move. It seemed she and Nick shared a common situation. Actually, Nick's situation was worse than her own.

Nick smiled. "Don't be sorry. I'm glad I got it off my chest. It's a little disappointing that...well... But I knew you were married when I moved in. It didn't stop me from feeling the way I feel now, but I can't say that I didn't know. I just know that when I do find the right one, she'll most likely be just like you."

Bulma smiled a small smile. "We shouldn't talk about this anymore. It's too dangerous." She looked around again. "So, what do you think about this little baby?" She presented the machine she was studying. "It's a little advancement on a lie detector. It's really neat. It tells you when people are leaving things out when they talk to you."

"Is that what all of this was about...?" Nick asked with a laugh.

The two continued to chat.

That WAS a neat device. It made Bra wonder exactly how it worked. Especially without actually being hooked into the person you're talking to.

But Bra didn't have time to ponder that. Her time was winding down. She'd have to find a better way to go about asking Nick out now that she knew this bit of information. She would have to wait till later.

She quietly made her way back to her room. She would have to go out the window if she didn't want to be stopped by her mother.

...soon...

Bra flew at the speed of sound over the trees. She had to find Goten and she had to find him soon. It was eating away at her now. She never should have left him there.

Once she arrived in the vast deserted land in which they always fought, she eyed the crater Goten had been laying in when she left. She took a deep breath and ran over to it.

But there was no sign of him anywhere.

Goten was gone.

--End All That Is Gone--

--Abrupt ending again. This was SOME chapter. Even stranger than that last, I believe. I don't know what to say. To be honest with you, a lot of the stuff that happened in it, I didn't even see coming. I've really gotta stop letting these characters shock me like this. These episodes have been writing themselves lately.

--Anyway, thank you for reading Versus 3. And thank you everyone for the reviews. I knew I meant to make a comment about something I saw in a review before. This was a while back, though. I regret to inform you, I do not do lemons. I like reading lemons, but something just tells me I would suck at writing them. (Get it? Suck lemons...? Oh, well.) Anyway, I may get around to trying them sometime, but it won't be in this series.

--We're closer and closer to the end. Three more episodes to go. And the more I look at it, the more I think that there will be a Versus 4. We'll just have to see how this ends. So, see ya next time.


	22. All That's to Come

Versus 3: Eclipse

--All That's to Come--

"Goten...," Bra whispered as she stood in the crater in which she'd left Goten. But he was no longer there. Would she ever get to see him alive again? Would he ever forgive her for abandoning him in his time of need?

She sat in the hole in the very spot where she'd left him. She touched the sand that had been his only bit of comfort. Tears began to blur her vision.

There was really no telling what had happened now. She'd have to find him somehow. Even if she had to search to the ends of the earth, she would find him.

So why in the world was she just sitting there sulking? It was like she couldn't move. Well, actually, her muscles were still sore from the sparring match, but that couldn't be the reason she couldn't move. Something was keeping her there. Some force outside her own will. Could there be something about this place that had taken her over when she fought Goten earlier today? Could there be something about this place that was taking control of her body now?

Suddenly she heard a cry from the woods. Someone was in trouble. And she had a feeling that that someone was the very person she'd been looking for. So maybe being unable to move hadn't come from this place. Maybe she'd somehow felt that Goten was nearby.

She didn't waste time thinking about it. She was up and on the move again, flying at full speed into the woods not far from the crater she'd created. She knew his voice anywhere, no matter what noise he made. And the voice she'd heard from the woods was Goten's. But when she stood at the edge of the forest and looked around, there was no sign of him anywhere. And he hadn't made a sound since that first cry. This was one of those times she wished she'd mastered the art of locating unraised ki signatures. If Pan were here, she wouldn't have much trouble locating Goten.

Bra had to stop and concentrate in order to track him down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If she could only zero in on the direction in which he'd gone...

But there were all manners of life in these woods. What if he was too weak to radiate enough power for her to recognize him? She took another deep breath and cleared her mind. Soon she perceived his presence off toward the left. She couldn't really tell exactly how far away he was, but now that she knew which direction to go, she was way ahead of where she'd started. She quickly flew in that direction.

She saw Goten laying on the ground. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, but she did see a small trail of blood from where he'd been crawling.

Bra kneeled down beside him. "Oh, Goten Please be okay," she whispered as she turned him over and held him in her arms. She checked for a pulse in his neck. It was faint, but at least it was there. She would have to take care of him soon.

She heard a sigh escape his lips and he furrowed his brow. And she studied his face for a moment. She wanted to kiss those lips, but she knew she would get no response. He was unconscious after all. But at the same time, she wanted to tear those lips from his face. With all of the worrying, she couldn't remember for the life of her why she'd left him here in this state. Now that she was face to face with him, she knew. This man who'd been her friend and trainer had held back during their sparring matches. He who had told her that he would not hold back because she was a girl, or because she was younger, or because she was smaller, or because she was his best friend's sister.

She remembered now how it had struck her pride. And even now that she'd found him, tattered and mangled, she contemplated abandoning him once again. Oh, the dilemma she faced in dealing with someone whom she loved, yet whom she felt had betrayed her trust.

Hoisting the unconscious 24-year-old's body onto her back, she took off toward home...

--soon--

Bra quietly landed at the back of Capsule Corp. Her heart thumped madly as she looked around. If she could just make it through the back entrance and past those security cameras, she'd be in business. Sure, she could just travel at a speed that the cameras couldn't pick up, but she might further injure Goten, who she lugged around like a giant sack of potatoes.

What a hilarious sight it must have been to see the 5'1" teenager carrying a full-grown, hulking Saiyan male on her back. Had she the time to laugh about it, she would have. But the situation wouldn't allow for that.

She decided she would have to be as stealthy as possible. And now was a time she was glad she played video games. She could either put these security cameras out of commission or cover them with something. If she destroyed them or turned them off, her mother would know something was up. So she lay Goten's limp body on the ground and worked quickly.

She took off her blouse and used her energy to burn off portions that were big enough to cover the lenses on the cameras temporarily. She sped around in flashes, placing the pieces of her shirt where they should go. Ha! She was a genius. And the work of art before her was proof of it.

When she turned to face Goten, she saw that he was sitting upright, looking at her strangely. "Bra? What are you doing in your...bra?" He winced at some pain he had suffered while trying to move.

Bra blushed. "Goten, you shouldn't talk." She wasn't sure how she should answer that question anyway. She walked over to him. "You're hurt. I'm gonna just put you in my dad's regen tank for a while."

Goten looked very confused and very much in pain. "I...don't..." And then it looked like something jolted his brain. He looked at her angrily. "I don't want your help. You..." He wrapped his arms around himself and cringed again. "You left me out there... You tried to kill me and you left me out there to die." The poor fool looked like he might pass out from the pain.

But Bra refused to acknowledge it at the time. She just stared at him and laughed a little. She felt like she might be going insane. "And I should have finished you off for what you did to me," she said through her teeth.

Goten thought for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't--"

"You've been pulling punches with me from the start!" Bra shouted. "You held back when I've always asked you not to! Ever since we were younger and even when we started back training together, you've been holding back some of your power!"

"I--" Goten began. He frowned. "Bra, have you lost your mind? Whether that's true or not, that's no reason to leave me for dead." He seemed to be losing balance even as he sat on the ground.

Bra laughed a little maniacally and somewhere in her mind she wondered if her father had somehow taken control of her. "That's MORE than enough reason to leave you for dead. If you even cared at all about me, you'd remember that I pride myself on strength and skill. And when I found out that you've been letting me think you're fighting at full power..." She looked away. "Well, you see what happened."

"Bra, I didn't want to see you get hurt, especially by my hand," Goten stated as he seemed to sway.

Bra shook her head and laughed a sick, sad laugh. "But don't you understand? It hurt me more that you'd do me this way. I'd rather be destroyed by you than to have you do what you've been doing to me all this time."

Goten hmphed. "You're a stubborn as your father." He lowered his head and started coughing.

"Goten, I don't know how to put this. It's like you've been limiting my growth as a fighter on purpose. You could have pushed me harder. You could have shown me all that you had and made me reach for it," Bra said. She walked over to him and squatted down next to him. "I could be so much stronger than I am today..."

She looked at him and noticed that he was coughing up some blood. She gasped and put her arms around him. "I'd better get you to the regeneration tank."

Goten leaned against her and was about to say something, but she stopped him. "Don't talk. Just rest," she told him. And through the anger she felt, she managed to hurry him down the hall and finally to her father's regen chamber.

"Stupid Goten. Why couldn't you just go all out all those times we fought?" Bra asked no one in particular. She did not remove his torn clothes. Not only because she feared her hormones couldn't take it, but she didn't want to see the damage she'd done. She strapped him in and hooked on his oxygen mask. And she watched as the chamber filled with the regenerative liquid.

What she had been asking him to do all her life may have been silly. He was older than she was then. He was much bigger than she was then. He was STILL older and bigger than she. But it really wasn't fair. The least he could have done was tell her that he wouldn't go all out. Nooooooo. Everytime they fought, he said he'd give it his all. He'd lied to her each and every time. And she just wasn't sure if she'd be able to forgive him for that.

--End All That's to Come--

--Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. It's not a very happy chapter. It's also a pretty short chapter. I think the young lady is very confused. And I think the gentleman is a little upset that he was left behind. What's going to happen between them in the episodes to come? Stay tuned to find out. It's true. There are only two episodes left in Versus 3: Eclipse, but a lot could happen in two episodes.

--Thank you for reading this episode. Thank you for reading past episodes. And, of course, thank you for your reviews. It's a strange one, I'll admit. And maybe there as a little less excitement than some people would have liked. And of course they didn't get all lovey dovey when Bra found him. But who knows where these strange chapters may lead.


	23. And Everything Under the Sun Is In Tune

Versus 3: Eclipse

--And Everything Under the Sun Is In Tune--

After finally leaving Goten to heal and collecting the torn pieces of her shirt from the cameras in the hall, Bra slowly made her way back outside. She couldn't help feeling guilty about leaving him deserted. She had been a little self-centered in the demands she made on him. She hadn't tried to see things from Goten's point of view. Maybe there had been a good reason for him to totally disregard her wishes the way he had.

No. Trying to understand his motives was not something she should do. The real damage didn't come from the fact that he'd held back. A lot of this was about the fact that he'd taken a shot at her pride. A lot of this came from the fact that he underestimated her. And a lot of it was about the fact that he'd deprived her of her right to grow as a fighter, as a Saiyan. But the majority of the reason she'd been so angry at him was that he'd lied to her about it for so long.

On the other hand, maybe she was a fool to believe that she could actually become a great fighter. Maybe this was a sign that she should give up fighting altogether. Tears threatened her eyes again. There was no way she could give up fighting when she'd been fighting all her life. It was like giving up music or building those useless contraptions she built sometimes. Just as those things were in her blood, it was in her blood to fight. If she gave that up, she wouldn't even be the same person she is today. If she gave that up, she'd lose the connection she had with her father. The only person she'd really ever looked up to.

Besides Goten, that is. And if she gave up fighting, she may as well give up Goten. For some reason, even though she was at the border of despising him, she couldn't bring herself to accept losing him. Of course, when she'd left him out there to die, she would have lost him. A bit of a drastic measure, leaving him to die like that. What if she would have left him out there too long? What if she'd never gone back for him? She would have lost him forever.

Wasn't attempted murder some sort of federal offense? Couldn't she go to prison for trying to kill someone?

Then reality hit her. Goten wouldn't want to be with a person who tried to kill him. Bra knew that if he'd tried to kill her, she wouldn't want to be with him.

What had she done...?

The tears that lingered at the backs of Bra's eyes finally began to fall as she rounded the corner of Capsule Corp. She glimpsed the watery image of a van in the front yard and gasped. Had one hour gone by in what seemed to be such a short amount of time? She wiped away the tears that stained her face and impared her vision. And when she reopened her eyes, she knew that this was Eroder's band van. It didn't have anything in particular on it to signify that fact, but it was an unknown van in her yard. So it had to be Eroder's band van.

She hadn't even asked Nick to go out with her tonight. What was she going to do?

She looked down at her clothes. All she had on was a blood-stained bra and a pair of jeans. She gasped again. There was no way she was walking through the door like this. Especially considering that Pan, Marron and two members of Eroder were probably in there waiting for her.

Bra would just have to go back in the way she'd left. And as soon as she made it back into her bedroom window, there was a knock on her door.

So Bra quickly washed some dried blood off her chest and stomach, changed clothes and splashed her face with water. Then she ran to the bedroom door.

Once she opened it, Pan burst into the room. "What in the world is going on, Bra?" She put her hands on her hips and stared at her angrily.

Bra was really in no mood for this.

"We've been waiting for you for about 20 minutes. Nick said that you never asked him if he'd go out with you. What's the deal?" Pan asked.

Bra frowned. There were no answers she could give that would excuse her impunctuality. But she'd have to give it a shot. Just when she was about to speak, Pan interrupted her.

"Have you been crying?" Pan asked.

Not again! Why did the evidence of tears stick around for so long?

Bra looked away. "I got soap in my eyes." She looked back at Pan.

Pan rolled her eyes. "That's just not gonna cut it this time." She walked back over to Bra's bedroom door and slammed it shut. "Now, you listen to me." She put her hands on Bra's shoulders and made her sit on the bed. "You're gonna tell me what's going on. I know there's something wrong. And if you don't tell me what it is, I can't help you."

Who did Pan think she was, pushing her around like this? Making demands?

"Who said I needed your help?" Bra asked, looking up at Pan with a look that could have shattered a stone.

But Pan didn't back down. "ME. I said you need my help. I'm probably the only friend you've got in the world because you never open up. We've been friends all our lives, yet I can never tell what's going on in that thick skull of yours. It's okay to keep some secrets. Everyone does. But when you don't talk about things that effect you like this... Well, let's just say it's really useless to have friends if you don't get help from them when you need it. And you need it now."

Bra was a bit speechless.

"You keep so much bottled up that I don't even know who you are. It's like we're perfect strangers," Pan said quietly. She sat next to her and looked straight ahead.

Silence...

In a way, what Bra was doing to Pan was like what Goten had been doing to her...

And in a way, what Goten had been doing to her with his power was like what Bra had been doing to him with her love...

"Pan?" Bra finally spoke.

Pan looked at her. It was a serious look. Not a look Bra should be getting from this fun-loving teen.

Bra sighed. "I think I've been taking you for granted. I think I've been taking everyone around me for granted. I haven't been putting things into perspective. And for that, I'm sorry."

It must have sounded strange to hear her apologize because Pan looked shocked. And Bra couldn't blame her for being surprised. It wasn't every day that she apologized to someone.

"But I can't tell you exactly what's been going on with me right now," Bra continued.

Pan looked a little disappointed.

"I can't tell you because it would just ruin our night out," Bra went on. She put her hand on Pan's shoulder. "I want us to have fun tonight. And then I promise I'll burden you with my problems."

"I can't believe you're putting it off again! You always do that!" Pan almost shouted. But after only a few seconds, she smiled and stood up. "You promised. Just remember that you promised." She clasped her hands together. "Come on! Nick already agreed to go out with you tonight. It's a triple date!"

Bra gave Pan a strange look. Her friend was definitely one of a kind.

--moving on--

"And now, the lady we've all been waiting for. Bra's finally ready," Pan said once she walked into the living room.

Bra's face was flushed with embarrassment. Was this really called for?

To add insult to injury, everyone in the living room gave her a standing ovation. Marron, Wes, Nick and Hunter were all there.

Bra folded her arms across her chest.

"What was the hold up, Bra?" Marron asked. "Couldn't decide on which outfit to wear?"

It was sarcasm. That was just like Marron. Always teasing Bra about her lack of style or something along those lines.

"Let's just get out of here and get this night started," Bra said. She looked at Nick and frowned. "Oh..., I'm really sorry that I blew you off earlier." She lowered her head.

Nick shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I think I've gotten to know a little about how you are. I'd expect no less." He smiled.

Was he being funny? Because with the way Bra was feeling right now, she didn't have a very good sense of humor.

She studied his smile and noticed that it faded into a kind of sadness. No one else was really paying attention, but Bra knew all too well how he felt. She knew that he was strangely attracted to her mother, but would never be able to have anything with her. Just like she knew that she was strangely attracted to Goten, but would never be able to have anything with him.

In Nick's situation, it was nobody's fault. Her mother was married and Nick just so happened to fall for her. How her mother felt about him, she would never know. She thought highly of him. That was about all she knew. She didn't really want to think about her mother being attracted to someone--not even her own father. But that was beside the point. Nick had a case of ULS. Simple and to the point.

Bra's situation was a little more complicated. She was attracted to Goten. And Goten was attracted to her. That was a simple enough concept. But they never really 100 got it together. That was bad enough in itself. Then came the fact that she wasn't able to tell Goten that she loved him. His world had obviously been shattered. That added an unnecessary obstacle in an already rocky situation. Next came the fact that Goten had been holding back some of his power. Her pride was scarred. Nothing in the world could have hurt her more. And finally, to add icing on the cake called disaster, she tried to kill him and actually left him for dead. Had he not come in and out of conscious, he would have never known about that part of it. It would have just been something she had to live with. But he knew about it. And now just she didn't know what to think. Would he hate her forever? Was there no going back to him after what she'd done?

At some point during her reflection, they had all gotten into the van and were driving down the road. She began to notice that Pan and Marron really were just a couple of chatter boxes. It was something she'd always known, but she hadn't paid attention to it lately because she was always in her own little world. As Wes drove, Marron wore out his ear. But he seemed to be chatting right along with her. So maybe he didn't have it so bad.

And then there was Pan. She just rambled on incessantly, talking with both Hunter and Nick. Hunter wasn't much of a talker, so he really didn't have anything to say. Yet somehow he seemed to be at home with this kind of thing. Nick, on the other hand, spoke to Pan about the band and tomorrow's gig. Bra could tell that this was not really a date for Pan. She was just out to have a good time.

This would surely go on all night. They took a short break from yammering to take in a movie. Bra couldn't be sure what movie they'd gone to see because her mind was on other things. Namely how Goten would react once she got him out of that regen tank.

Then it was back to the road and they yapped away again. Neither Bra nor Hunter cared to join in the conversations. They just listened quietly.

The group drove to a park at the edge of town.

"I love to see this place after dark," Marron said, clinging to Wes's arm.

"I remember hearing you say that you liked this place," Wes told her as they walked ahead of the rest of the crew and continued to talk.

Bra hugged herself and looked up at the night sky. The light pollution on this side of town made it impossible to see the stars. Or maybe it was just a cloudy night. She couldn't be sure which. Yet the place was still beautiful. The lamp posts decorating the sides of the broad brick walkway running through the middle of the park were stunning. The amount of light they cast onto the path was utter perfection. It was like someone measured out exactly how much illumination each light would give off, then planted the surrounding lamp posts flawlessly to create the indescribable sight before her. Almost as if the whole park were in black and white.

"Hey," Pan chirped to everyone. "There are the swings. Nobody's around. Why don't we go take over?"

Hunter smiled. "Sounds good."

It was the first thing she'd heard Hunter say all night.

"No thanks," Wes said. "I think Marron and I will just walk around a little more."

Marron smiled and lay her head on his shoulder.

Pan giggled. "Alright, but you're gonna miss out." She went running over to the swings and occupied one on the end.

Hunter went to the one beside her. They both laughed and swang away.

Bra shook her head. Grown people on children's play things was a ridiculous sight to see.

"Wanna try out the see-saw with me?" Nick asked Bra.

She looked a little surprised.

"It would be pretty silly for one person to ride a see-saw, you know," Nick went on. He had a silly smile on his face.

A smile Bra hoped she would see on the face of the man she loved again. But chances were that she wouldn't.

Nick went over to a teeter-toter and readjusted it so that it would be a little more balanced for their differing weights. He looked Bra up and down. "I would ask what your weight is, but girls don't seem to like to reveal that kind of information."

Bra shrugged. "I'm somewhere around 130."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Well, you're not self-conscious about that at all, are you?"

Bra raised an eyebrow. "There's no reason to be," she answered confidently.

"Wow. Alright," Nick went on. He got the see-saw into position. "There. Ladies first."

Bra shook her head and got on the contraption. It had been years since she'd done something like this. Decades even. She didn't have much of a chance to do things like this in her youth, being the daughter of a fighter and a technological genius.

Once they started teetering and totering, Bra started to feel something she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt like she was having pure unadulterated fun. She even laughed a little.

The night would eventually come to an end. And then she would have to deal with her problems again. But for the time being, she would ease her mind with the antics of children.

--End And Everything Under the Sun Is In Tune--

--Welcome again to another episode of Versus 3. Thank you for reading this insanely strange story that's getting more and more depressing as it goes on. What will happen in the last episode of this tale? There's only one way to find out. Please stay tuned. I know it's hard to do sometimes.

--This story's uncanny ability to write itself seems to be getting me into more trouble than I can handle. What do you think? Please review.

--Thank you all for your wonderful and much needed reviews. Whether this entire catastrophe goes on or not is entirely up to you.


	24. But the Sun Is Eclipsed By the Moon

Versus 3: Eclipse

--But the Sun Is Eclipsed By the Moon--

Pan stared at Bra strangely. "Tell me you're joking. Do you have any idea how psychotic that sounds?"

Bra had told her everything, just like she'd promised. And by this time it was a little after 11:00pm. It probably wasn't the best thing to do, considering Goten was a family member of hers. Pan was crazy about Goten.

"And you left him here?" Pan asked. She shook her head. "You left him here while you went out and had fun?"

Bra closed her eyes to fight back the tears. "You have to understand. I didn't want to cause any trouble--"

"Hold it right there. You tried to kill my uncle and left him where no one could find him. But you didn't want to cause any trouble?" Pan questioned. She laughed sarcastically. "That's rich." She looked at Bra out of the corner of her eye. "I can't believe you would do something like that. I won't believe it. Not you. Not to him."

Bra put her head down. "I know it doesn't sound like something I would do. I couldn't believe it myself." Tears escaped her eyelids, but she kept her head lowered so Pan wouldn't see her cry. "I didn't even feel like myself when I did it. I mean, it was like something inside of me took over."

"No! You said that about when you fought him! If I remember correctly, you consciously left him there!" Pan shouted.

Bra didn't want to be yelled at. It made her very angry when people yelled at her. "Only because he'd been lying to me for so long." She made sure to hide the tears which now flowed like a river from her eyes.

"Hmph," Pan said. "That's no reason to try to end his life."

"It's what my father would have done! Okay!" Bra yelled shakily.

"You are NOT your father! I don't care how much you want to be! You're not him! You'll never be him!" Pan almost screamed at the top of her lungs.

Virtually soundproof rooms came in handy when things like this were going on.

Bra growled. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT! I DON'T NEED FOR YOU TO TELL ME THAT!"

"THEN STOP TRYING TO ACT LIKE HIM ALL THE TIME!" Pan yelled right back.

"You don't know what it's like," Bra said quietly. She finally looked up.

Pan looked a little surprised to see the tears on her face.

"You don't know what it's like to go through life trying to be a fighter when no one thinks you've got it in you," Bra continued. "People encouraged you to fight. Your mother. Your father. Your grandfathers. Your uncle. Only one person ever really thought I had what it took to be a fighter. And the one person who did believe in me wouldn't allow me to grow as much as I..." She looked away. "I know I took it to the extreme. I know that." She hugged herself. "But I..." She couldn't seem to find the words for what she wanted to say.

Pan sighed and looked at Bra for a long time.

Bra couldn't be sure what was going on in Pan's head. She most likely hated her now. She wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore and she'd never want to see her again. Had she been in Pan's shoes, she would hate herself too. Bra hated herself enough already.

"Take me to him. I want to see him," was all Pan had to say after that.

Bra nodded. She led Pan out of the house and to the back of the building. They were both quiet as they traveled, which made Bra kind of nervous, seeing how Pan loved to run her mouth all the time. The silence was beginning to get to her.

Once they made it down the long camera-filled hallway, Bra opened the door to the room which contained the regeneration tank. Goten was still inside. Thank goodness. She didn't want him to disappear like last time. But to her surprise...

Vegeta sat in a chair on the other side of the room.

Bra heard someone gasp, but she couldn't be too sure whether it was herself or Pan. "Papa. What are you doing up at this time of night?" Bra asked innocently.

Pan was speechless.

Vegeta, with his arms folded across his chest, stood from his seat. "I knew that you used my rejuvination chamber when you pushed yourself too hard. But when I came here and found the brat inside, well, I was a bit surprised to say the least." He looked at Bra for a long time. "What happened?"

Bra sighed. "I kinda went overboard when we were sparring, that's all."

Vegeta smirked. "That's what I thought. You've come a long way, child."

Bra just looked at her father strangely.

"She tried to kill him," Pan interrupted. "She even left him there to die."

Vegeta looked at Pan. "Really?" He looked back at Bra. "It seems you've become a true Saiyan. Unlike some of the others of our race." He looked back at Goten in the chamber.

"But that's not something I'm supposed to do. I'm not supposed to try to kill someone I love," Bra said before she even knew what she was saying.

Pan looked surprised.

Vegeta looked back at Bra and smirked again. "Oh, but it is. One fighter to another. It is the way of the Saiyan warrior. Today you will be acknowledged as the last true Saiyan." And with that, he was gone.

Her father was notorious for leaving with ambiguous statements like that. She wasn't sure of the meaning. Of course, he was just a mystery to her altogether sometimes.

Pan looked confused. "What is he talking about? The last true Saiyan?"

Bra wouldn't contemplate her father's comment. Right now, she wanted to free Goten from the regeneration tank. His bruises and scratches were gone, but he still looked to be unconscious. Or maybe he was sleeping. As she started letting the water out of the tank, she could feel Pan watching her every move. Once that was done, she opened up the chamber and removed Goten's mask.

Pan studied Goten. "Is he okay?"

"He should be," Bra told her. She picked him up in her arms and took him over to an examining table on the other side of the room.

"Bra," Goten muttered.

Bra gasped. "Goten?" She smiled.

Goten's eyes popped open and he quickly hopped off of the table. "I remember." He looked at his clothes and felt around for the injuries he'd once had. Then he looked at Bra with his eyes narrowed.

Bra frowned.

"Oh, Uncle Goten! I was so worried," Pan said. She dashed over and hugged him tight.

Goten moved Pan behind him and kept his eyes on Bra. "So, how's it gonna be, Bra? Are you going to try to kill me again? Are you going to try to kill Pan?"

Bra sighed. "Goten..."

He looked away a little. "I heard what you all were saying before you got me out of the chamber." Then he looked at Bra angrily. "But that doesn't change the fact that you tried to put an end to my existance."

The backs of Bra's eyes began to sting again. "Goten... Goten, I'm so sorry."

Goten's expression softened a little.

Pan just looked from one to the other as they stood in silence.

And a long silence it was...

Bra knew that Goten would hate her for the rest of her life. This was nothing small. She had indeed tried to snuff out his life. She had left him in the barren land to waste away. And with the way she'd treated Goten, Pan would hate her as well. The only real friends she'd ever had in the world would disappear from her life. What would she do without them. Pan had always been her solid foundation when nothing in her life seemed to be going right. She was someone Bra could go to when times got so hard that not even she could handle it. And Goten was the love of her life. He was the only reason she'd become who she was today, regardless of how many fights he'd thrown in the past. He was still that wonderful, lovable, incredible guy she'd always loved. The only man she ever wanted. The only man she ever felt she needed.

"I wonder what your dad meant," Pan finally said.

Both Bra and Goten looked at her strangely.

"I mean, he said something about Bra being the last true Saiyan. I wonder what he could have meant by that," Pan continued. "We're all part Saiyan, aren't we?"

Right now, Bra didn't care what her father had been talking about. All she cared about was the fact that these two would be lost to her forever.

"Yeah. But I don't know... I don't know," Goten said, sounding very confused. "Come on, Pan. It's getting pretty late. I'll fly you home." He looked back at Bra.

Bra's tears began to fall like rain. "Please...don't go," she murmured.

Goten looked like he was about to reach over and wipe away her tears, but changed his mind. He sighed and looked back at Pan. "Let's go."

The look of sadness on that man's face pierced a hole in Bra's heart. And she watched the only two friends she'd ever had leave without even saying good-bye.

--End But the Sun Is Eclipsed By the Moon--

--Ouch...

--Well, that's the end of Versus 3: Eclipse. I apologize. I know this episode was a real downer. It depressed the hell out of me, that's for sure. And I have to apologize for the fact that it's not very well written. It stopped writing itself at some point and let me take over again for a while. That's probably the reason it turned out the way it did.

--Sorry it took so long to get this very sad episode out. Let me know what you think. And let's have a little vote. Should this series continue? I think it can, but there may be some people out there thinking, 'This fic's been going downhill since the second day it started. Why is this SludgeMetal666 person still writing?' I know there are a few of you out there who think that. Well, let me know about it. If you hated it, bring on the flames. If you liked it, let me know. I know I hated it. It's a bummer. I want to see some better things happen for this couple. And that's why I'm starting off the votes by saying, 'Yes, I want a Versus 4'.

--Thanks for suffering through this fic. It may not be great, but you gotta admit, it's original. Or at least I think it is. Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews. And maybe I'll see you again.


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